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1 



CATHAY Jui-', 

-- ... ,^ 

AND THE WAY THITHER; 



BEING A COLLRCTION OK 



MEDIEVAL NOTICES OF CHINA, 



II 



TRANSLATED AND EDITED 

By 

COLONEL HENRY YULE, C.B., 

LATE OF THE BOTAI. KNOINEBRS (BKMOAL). 



WITH A 



PRELIMINARY ESSAY 

[on the INTERCOURSB between CHINA AND THK WESTERN NATIONS 
PREVIOUS TO THK DIBGOVBRT OF TUB CAPE ROUTE. 



VOL. n. 



LONDON: 
PRINTED FOR THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY. 

M.DCCC.LXVI. 



/ 



III. 



CATHAY UNDER THE MONGOLS. 



\ 



II 



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I 



m. 

CATHAY UNDER THE MONGOLS. EXTRACTED 

FROM RASHIDUDDIN. 



1 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 



It has appeared desirable to present these extracts here, both as 
an appropriate variety, and as in some measure at least a sample 
of the literature which flourished under one of the Mongol 
dynasties to which we have so often occasion to refer. 

The translation is borrowed from the French, chiefly from that 
published by Klaproth in the Journal Asiatique for 1833 (ser. ii, 
torn, xi, pp. 335-358, and 447-470). This was put forth in cor- 
rection of a previous version by Yon Hammer Purgstall, with 
which Klaproth found much fault, especially in the defective de- 
cypherment of proper names, of outlandish expressions, and some- 
times even of simple Persian words ; but in some of these respects 
he would himself also seem occasionally to have missed the mark. 
There is another translation, with considerable omissions and 
some additional matter, by D'Ohsson, in the Appendix to the 
second volume of his history of the Mongols, and I have followed 
that wherever it appeared to give better sense than Klaproth's 
version. An elaborate introduction to a paper of so little pre- 
tension as a translation thus prepared would be quite out of place, 
and a few paragraphs of explanation as to the author and his 
works are all that need be given. 

Fazl-ullah Rashid, otherwise Rashid-ud-din, son of 'Imad-ud- 
daulah Abu'l Khair, was bom at Hamadan about a.d. 1247. His 
enemies, in the latter part of his life, called him a Jew both by 
birth and religion.^ The latter part of the assertion is disproved, 
both as to himself and his immediate predecessor, but Quatrem^re 
is inclined to think that he was possibly of Jewish descent, as he 
shows an acquaintance with Jewish rites and customs singular 
for a Mahomedan statesman. 

* Ibn Batata (ii, 116), who saw Sashid's son attending as Wjuir on 
Aba Said Khan at Baghdad, says that " the father Khw^a Bashid had 
been an emigrant Jow." Saidaddaulat, the chief minister and favoarite 
of Argan the father of O^jaita, was a Jew (Mod. Univ. History in Fr. 
trans., iii, 646). 



I 



254 CATHAY UNDER THE MONGOLS. 

He was a physician by profession, and, in that capacity appa- 
rently, passed a considerable part of his life at the court of Abaka 
Khan and his immediate successors. All treated him with dis- 
tinction, but he came into no great prominence before the acces- 
sion of Ohazan Khan in 1295. The Wazir, Sadr-ud-din, was an 
old friend of Rashid*s, but mischief-making embittered the 
minister against the latter, and eventually (1298) the Khan 
taking Bashid*s part violently, caused Sadr-ud-din to be executed. 
Bashid himself was then named Wazir of the Persian empire in 
conjunction with Saad-ud-din. Oljaitu, the brother and successor 
of Ghazan, maintained both ministers in office, but they disagreed, 
and a succession of quarrels between them ended in Bashid's de- 
nouncing his colleague, and causing him to be put to death. This 
recurring fatality to Bashid's rivals and colleagues tends to raise 
serious doubts as to the high character claimed for him, and to 
abate our pity for his own catastrophe. He did not get on better 
with Saad*8 successor, one Ali Shah Jabalan, though selected by 
himself. Bashid kept his ground till the death of Oljaitu, but 
on the succession of Abu Said (1317) his enemy succeeded in 
prejudicing the king against him, and he was displaced. Such 
confusion ensued that the old statesman had soon to be recalled, 
but he speedily fell again. He was now accused of having caused 
the death of Oljaitu by a potion administered by the hands of 
his own son Ibrahim, who had been the Elhan's chief butler. A 
doctor's quarrel (spreti injuria dicti) aided the conspirators. For 
one of the chief physicians declared that Oljaitu's death was at- 
tributable to a purgative urged upon him by Bashid strongly 
against the legitimate opinion of the physician. He and his son, 
a noble youth of sixteen, were condemned. Ibrahim was killed 
before his father's eyes, and then the old man was hewn in two. 
His head was borne through the streets of Tabriz, and proclaimed 
as that of a blaspheming Jew, the property of his family was 
confiscated, and the Baba' Bashidi, a quarter which he had built, 
was given up to pillage. This was in 1318. The colleague who 
had brought destruction on Bashid survived in power for six years, 
and died in his bed. Abu Said then had to confess that affairs had 
never gone well since the removal of Bashid, and that he had sorely 
erred in listening to the calumniators. As some amends <o his 



\ 



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INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 255 

memoty the king raised Ghaiassuddui, the eldest son of Bashid, 
to his father's former office. He was a man of noble liberal and 
gentle character, but perished in the troubles which followed the 
death of Abn Said. 

What is told of Bashid's wealth, magnificence, acquirements, 
and labonrs, reads like a bit of French romance. In addition 
to the sciences connected with his original profession, he had 
studied agriculture, architecture, and metaphysics ; he was an 
adept in Mussulman theology and controversy ; and was ac- 
quainted with Persian, Arabic, Mongol, Turki, and Hebrew. 
In the space of eleven months, whilst administering a great 
kingdom, he declares himself to have composed three important 
works, besides numerous minor treatises on a variety of intricate 
subjects. The Baba' Bashidi was a magnificent suburb, the build- 
ings of which were laid out with great regularity and elegance ; 
it was built entirely at his expense, as weU as supplied with 
water by a canal which he caused to be cut through the rock. 
When Oljaitu founded Soltania, his minister built there also a 
quarter consisting of one thousand houses, with a mosque, a col- 
lege, a hospital, and a monastery, and all these he furnished with 
considerable endowments. In the transcription and binding of 
copies of his own works he is said to have laid out 60,000 dinars, 
equal, according to Quatremdre, to about £36,000. 

Bashid stoutly declares the integrity and justice of his own 
administration, and in this he is corroborated, not merely by 
contemporaries, but also by the authors of the next generation. 

His greatest work was called by the author the Jcumi^'uU 
Tawdrikhy " Collection of Histories" or Historical GyclopsBdia, 
which in fact it is. It contained histories of the Tartar and 
Turkish tribes, of Ghingiz and his race, and of the Persian khans 
in particular, including his master Oljaitu ; of various dynasties 
of Western Asia, of Mahomed and his companions, of the pro- 
phets of Israel, the CaBsars and other Christian princes ; of China 
and of India. It concluded, or was intended to conclude, with a 
universal geography, but it is doubtful if this was ever written, 
though the existing portions of the work contain many geogra- 
phical notices. 

A general judgment cannot be formed of the worth of these 



)u 



256 CATHAY UNDER THE MONGOLS. 

( copious writings by the nnleamed, for only portions and frag- 

^ ' ments have been translated. D'Ohsson, who makes much use 

of Bashid's History of the Mongols, says that though in some 
partB he copies from those who had gone before him, his history 
is altogether the most complete, and the most eminent for orderly 
arrangement and noble simplicity of style. Many of his facts are 
to be found in no other history ; it is the only one which gives in- 
formation as to the ancient nations of Tartary, and the ancestry 
of Chinghiz. He was aided with information by Pulad Ching- 
sang, a great Mongol prince, who was the Great Khan's envoy 
at Tabriz, and who was said to have better knowledge * of such 
subjects than' any man living. To him, probably, he owed much 
of the information in the chapters here translated. 

Even from such fragments as this, and those which Sir Henry 
Elliot has introduced in his Biographical Index to Historians of 
India, it may be gathered that Rashid had far more correct ideas 
of geography than any of his contemporaries with whom we have 
to do in this book. This indeed might have been expected from 
a man so accomplished, and occupying a position which was not 
merely that of first minister of Persia, but that of a statesman 
in one great branch of an empire whose relations embraced 
nearly all Asia with a closeness and frequency of intercourse to 
which there has never been an approach in later days. 

In 1836 Quatrem^re commenced the publication of a text and 
translation of the Mongol History of Rashid, at the expense of 
the French government, and on a most costly and cumbrous 
scale. It went no further than the first volume, containing a life 
of Rashid and an account of his works, the author's own preface, 
and the history of Hulagu. 

The late Mr. Morley was engaged on an English translation 
of the whole of the JamV-ut-Tawdrikh, as may be seen from his 
letters in vols, vi and vii of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic 
Society. But it never was published, and I am not aware what 
progress had been made.^ 

I This sketch has been derived from Quatrem^re, from D'Ohsson's 
Preface^ from Mr. Morley's letters just mentioned, and from Sir H. 
Elliot's Index. But the last seems to draw his material from Quatre- 
m^re and Morley. 



I 



CONTEMPORARY NOTICES OP CATHAY UNDER 

THE MONGOLS: 

SXTBACTSI) FSOM THE HISTOBIGAL CYCLOPEDIA OF BASHIDUDDIN. 



Cathay is a country of vast extent and cultivated in the 
highest degree. Indeed the most credible authors assert 
that there is no country in the world to compare with it in 
culture and population. A gulf of the ocean^ of no very 
great widthj washes its south-eastern shores and extends 
along the coast between Manzi and Koli^^ running into 
Cathay so as to reach within (twenty) -four parasangs of 
Khanbaligh^' and ships come to that point. The vicinity of 
the sea causes frequent rain. In one part of the country the 
climate is a hot one^ whilst in others it is cold. In his time 
Chinghiz Kaan had conquered the greater part of the pro- 
vinces of Cathay^ whilst under the reign of Oktai' Kaan the 
conquest of the whole was completed. Chinghiz Kaan and 
his Bons^ however^ as we have said in relating their history^ 
never took up their residence in Cathay ; but after Mangu 
Khan had transmitted the empire to Kublai Kaan^ the latter 
thought it not weU to remain at such a distance from a 
country so populous^ and which was reckoned to surpass all 
other kingdoms and countries in the world. So he fixed 
his residence in Cathay^ and established his winter quarters 
in the city of Khanbahgh^ which was called in the Cathayan 
tongue Chung-tu.' 

< On Manzi, see note tupra, p. lOS. Eoli ia the Chinese Eaoli, i,e., Corea 
and the Gulf is of oonrse the Yellow Sea. 

' The reading is /our both with Elaproth and D'Ohsson. But as the 
real distance is twenty-four, the former supposes it originaUy stood so. 

> Supra, p. 127. 

17 



258 CONTEMPORARY NOTICES OP CATHAY 

This city had been the residence of the former kings. It 
was built in ancient times according to the indications of 
the most learned astrologers^ and under the most fortunate 
constellations^ which have always continued propitious to it. 
But as it had been destroyed by Chinghiz Kaan^ Kublai 
Kaan desired to spread his own fame by restoring it. The 
city which he built was close to the former capital and was 
called Daidu.^ 

The wall of this city is flanked by seventeen towers, with 
intervals of a parasang between every two. The population 
of Dai'du is so great that even outside of the fortifications 
there are great streets and numerous houses. And there 
are extensive gardens, planted with various kinds of fruit 
trees brought together from every quarter. In the middle 
of this city Kublai Kaan established his Oniu, in a palace of 
great extent which they call the Karsi? 

The pavements and columns of this palace are all of 
marble or of the finest cut stone. Four walla enclose and 
defend it, and there is an interval of a bow-shot from one 
wall to the next. 

The outer court is assigned to the palace-guards ; the 
next to the nobles, who assemble there every morning ; the 
third is occupied by the great officers of the army ; and the 
fourth by the sovereign's most intimate associates. The 
picture of the palace which follows is reduced from one 
which was painted for his majesty Ghazan Kaan. 

[Here the orvjinal MS. seems to have had an illustration, 1 

Two important rivers pass by Klianbaligh and Dai'du. 
After coming from the direction of the kaan's summer resi- 
dence in the north, and flowing near Jamjdl, they unite to 
form another river. A very large basin, like a lake in fact, 
has been dug near the city and furnished with a slip for 

1 Supra, p. 127. 

3 KarH is a Mongol word signifying the hall in which the Emperor sits 
on state occasions. (JTZopr.) 



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I 

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UNDER THE MONGOLS. 259 

launcliing pleasure boats.^ The river had formerly another 
channel^ and discharged itself into the golf of the ocean^ 
which peneti*ated within a short distance of Khanbaligh. 
Bnt in the course of time this channel had become so shal- 
low as not to admit the entrance of shippings so that thejr 
had to discharge their cargoes and send them up to Khan- 
baligh on pack-cattle. And the Chinese engineers and men 
of science having reported that the vessels from the pro- 
vinces of Cathay, from the capital of Maohin,^ and from the 
cities of EHiNOSAJf and Zaitun no longer could reach the 
metropolis, the Elhan gave them orders to dig a great 
canal, into which the waters of the said river and of several 
others should be introduced. This canal extends for a dis- 
tance of forty days' navigation from Khanbaligh to Khing- 
sai and Zaitun, the ports frequented by the ships that come 
from India and from the capital of Mdchin.^ The canal is pro- 
vided with many sluices intended to distribute the water over 
the country ; and when vessels arrive at these sluices they 
are hoisted up by means of machinery, whatever be their 
size, and let down on the other side into the water. The 
canal has a width of more than 30 ells. Kublai caused the 
sides of the embankments to be revetted with stone in order 
to prevent ike earth giving way.« Along the side of the 
canal runs the high road to Machin, extending for a space 
of forty days* journey, and this has been paved throughout, 
so that travellers and their animals may get along during 

1 The two riyers are the Sha-ho and Peho, which unite below Peking, 
afterwardB bearing the latter name. The lake is that called ThoA-i-ichi 
or Si'hal'Uu, tq the east (loeat) of the imperial palace. (K,) 

' Here we find the " capital of Machin" distinct from Kingss^. It is 

probably Chinkalan or Canton that is meant. See supra, p. 105. The 

aathor refers here to the extension of the Great Canal towards Peking by 

Kublai. 

. * The earthen embankments in this part of the canal were supported by 

retaining walls of coarse grey marble cut into large blocks^ and cemented 

together with a kind of mortar. Those walls were about twelve feet in 

thickness, and the large stones on the top were bound together with 

damps of iron." {Staunton, u, 892.) 

172 



260 CONTEMPORARY NOTICES OF CATHAY 

the rainy season without sticking in the mad. The two 
sides of the road are planted with willows and other shady 
trees, and no one is allowed, whether soldier or otherwise, 
to break branches of those trees or to let cattle feed on the 
leaves. Shops, taverns, and villages line the road on both 
sides, so that dwelling succeeds dwelling without inter- 
mission throughout the whole space of forty days' journey. 

The ramparts of the city of Daidu are formed of earth. 
The custom of the country in making such ramparts is first 
to set up planks, and then to fill in moist earth between 
them, ramming it hard with great wooden rammers ; they 
then remove the planks, and the earth remains forming a 
solid wall. The Kaan, in his latter years, ordered stone to 
be brought in order to face the walls, but death intervened, 
and the execution of his project remains, if God permit, for 
Timur Kaan. 

The Kaan's intention was to build a palace like that of 
Daidu at Kaiminfu, which is at a distance of fifty parasangs, 
and to reside there.* There are three roads to that place 
from the winter-residence. The first, reserved for hunting 
matches, is allowed to be used only by ambassadors.^ The 
second road passes by the city of Chu-chu,' following the 
banks of the Sanghin river, where you see great plenty of 
grapes and other kinds of fruit.* Near the city just named 

r 

^ Eaimingfu, the Eai-pingfii of the Chinese and the Clemenfii (probably 
miswiitten for Chemenfu) of M. Polo, is at the place thirty-six leagues 
beyond the Great Wall, where Kubla^, as here reUited, established his 
summer residence, chang^ing the name of the town to Shangtu {supra, 
p. 134). 

' Lord Macartney, on his way from Zhehol, found a road reserved only 
for the emperor. Another, parallel to it, was for the attendants of the 
emperor, and on this the ambassador was allowed to travel. All other 
travellers were excluded, and had to find a track where they could. 
(Staunton, ii, 279.) 

> Tsocheu is a town a short distance to the south-west of Peking, on 
the other side of the river named, the Geogui or Giugiu of Polo. 

^ The Sanghin river is that otherwise called Lu-keu and Yungting, a 



UNDER THE MONQOLS. 261 

there is another called Semali^ most of the inhabitants of 
which are natives of Samarkand^ and have planted a num- 
ber of gardens in the Samarkand style. The third road 
takes the direction of the Pass of Siking^^ and after tra- 
versing this yon find only prairies and plains abounding in 
game until you reach the city of Kaiminfu^ where the sum- 
mer palace is. Formerly the court used to pass the summer 
in the vicinity of the city of Chdchd, but afterwards the 
neighbourhood of Eaiminfu was preferred^ and on the east- 
em side of that city a karsi or palace was built called 
Lanotin^ after a plan which the Kaan had seen in a dream^ 
and retained in his memory.^ 

The philosophers and architects being consulted gave 
their advice as to the building of this other palace. They 
all agreed that the best site for it was a certain lake encom- 
passed with meadows near the city of KaLminfu^ but for this 
it was necessary to provide a dry foundation. Now there is 
a kind of stone found in that country which is used instead 
of fire- wood ; so they collected a great quantity of that stone 
and Ukewise of wood/ and fiUed up the lake and its springs 
with a mass of bricks and lime well shaken up together^ run- 
ning over the whole a quantity of melted tin and lead. The 
platform so formed was as high as a man. The water that 
was thus imprisoned in the bowels of the earth in the 

few miles to the west of Peking, over which stood the bridge which 
Marco Polo describes (i. 34 of Murray). The Venetian caUs the river 
P iili sangan, which looks very like the Persian PuUi-sanghin or Stone 
bridge, as Marsden suggested. But as the name Sangkan-ho (said to 
mean Biver of Mulberry trees) is also recognized in Chinese books, the 
origin of the Utter part of Marco's appellation seems doubtful (JETl. and 
Pauth,) 

^ Siking, Sengling, or Sengking. The hiUs from which the Sangkan-ho 
emerges are called in Elaproth's map 8hy-king'Bhsai. This is perhaps 
the name in the text. 

s D'Ohsson has read this passage differently : " Eublai caused a palace 
to be built for him east of Eaipingfu, called Lengten ; but he abandoned 
it in consequence of a dream." 

* Le., to bum bricks and lime. 



262 CONTEMPORABT NOTICES OF CATHAT 

course of time forced outlets iu sundiy places^ and thus 
fountaiiis were produced. On the foundation formed as has 
been described a palace in the Chinese taste was erected, 
and enclosed by a marble wall. From this wall starts an 
outer fence of wood which surrounds the park, to prevent 
any one from entering, and to preserve the game. Inside 
the city itself a second palace was built, about a' bowshot 
from the first ; but the Kaan generally takes up his resi- 
dence in the palace outside the town. 

In this empire of Cathay there are many considerable 
cities; each has its appropriate title marking a particular 
rank in the scale. The relative precedence of governors is 
indicated by that of the cities which they administer, so 
that there is no need to specify their dignities in the diploma 
of appointment, or to enter into curious questions of pre- 
cedence. You know at once [by the rank of the cities to 
which they are attached] which ought to make way for 
another or to bow the knee before him. These ranks or 
titles are as follows: 1. Kin^ ; 2. Du; 3. Fu; 4. CJiu; 5. ... ; 
6, Kiun; 7. Hien; 8. Chin; 9. Sitn} 

The first of these titles designates a vast tract of country, 
say like Rum, Persia, or Baghdad. The second is applied 
to a province, which is the seat of an imperial residence. 
The others diminish in importance in like proportion ; thus 
the seventh indicates small cities, the eighth towns, the 

^ 1. King, imperial capital, as in Peking^, Nanking ; 2. Tu, court or im- 
perial reeidenoe, as Taitu, Shangtu ; 3. Fu, a city of the first class, or 
rather the department of which it is the head ; Cheu, a city of the second 
class, or the district of which it is the head; 5. This is 'blank in Klaproth's 
original; Yon Ham. read it Our ; perhaps it was Lu, which was a special 
subdivision in China under the Mongols, rendered by Pauthier circuit ; I 
do not understand its relation to the others, but Duhalde says it was some- 
what less than a Fu ; 6. Kiun, a chief military garrison ; 7. Hian, a city 
of the third order, or sub-district, of which it is the head ; 8. Chin, a smaU 
town ; 9. Tsun, a village. The custom of naming the dignitary by the 
title belonging to the class of district under him still prevails in China ; 
" as if," says Pauthier, " we were to call our Prefects Departments and our 
Sub-Prefects Arrondissements** (If. P., p. xcvii). 



UNDSB THB MONGOLS. 263 

ninth villages and hamlets. Ports and landing places are 
called Batu} 

A similar classification of governors according to the rank 
of their cities does not exist anywhere else, but the empire 
of Cathay is quite remarkable for the system with which it 
is organised. 

NOTICE OF THB PRINCES, MINISTEBS, AND SECRETARIES OF 
CATHAT, OF THEIR GRADATIONS IN RANK, OF THB RULES AND 
CUSTOMS AFFECTING THEM, AND OF THE NAMES THET BEAR IN 
THE LANGUAGE OF THE COUNTRY. 

The great princes who have the rank of Wazirs among 
those people have the title of Chingsang ;^ commanders in 
chief of the army have that of Thaifu ; and chiefs of ten 
thousand soldiers are called Wanshi? 

Those Princes Wazirs and chief officers of the council who 
are either Tdjiks,* native Cathayans, or Ighiirs, have the title 
of FancM,n} Strictly speaking, the council of state is com- 

^ Mongol pronunciation of Matheu, a jetty, and hence a port. See 
wupra, p. 126. 

' This title Chingsang represents the Chinese Ching-siang, a minister 
of state. The name of Pulad Chingsang, the Great Khan's ambassador 
to the court of the Persian Khan, occurs frequently in D'Ohsson, who also 
mentions that the title of Chingsang was conferred on Bucai, the minister 
of the Persian Khan Arg^n, by Kublai (iv, 13). It is also the title which 
Marco Polo applies to Kublai's great general Bayam (or Baian) Cinq* 
tan, though he strangely alleges this to mean Bayam with the Hundred 
Eyes (i. 62). Full particulars regarding the imperial cabinet in the time 
of the Mongols will be found in Pauthier's Mare Pol, p. 829 seq. The 
number of the Chingsiang or chief ministers yaiied from two to four^ 
and on one occasion there was but one. 

* Wangshi, from Wan, ten thousand. The termination is Mongol ac- 
cording to Klaproth. Thaifu looks like a genuine Chinese title, though I 
do not find it in the books on China. It is mentioned by the merchant 
Suleiman (Da^u) as the title of the governor of a first-rate city (ReUxUon 
dec Voyages, i, 37). In the late wars against the Taeping I have seen the 
title Fu'tai applied to the Imperial commander. 

* Of Persian race. 

^ This word is read by Klaproth Kdbjdn, and by Von Hammer Tenidn. 
Pauthier says it should be read MinjiUn, as the Mongol pronunciation of 



264 CONTEMPOBABT NOTICES OF CATHAT 

posed of four OhingSting or great oflScers, and of four Fan^ 
chdn, taken from the nations of the Tajiks, Cathayans^ 
Ighdrs, and Arkdun.* These latter act as inspectors on 
behalf of the council. 

The whole gradation of dignitaries and officers of state is 
as follows : — 

1. The Ghingsdng or Wazlrs. 

2. The great officers of the army, who make their reports 
to the Chingsdng, however exalted their rank may be. 

3. The FcttnchAn or associated members of the Council 
of State, taken from the different nations specified. 

4. Yer Jtng or first class Jing. 

5. Ur Jing or second class Jing. 

, 6. Sam Jing or third class Jing,^ 

7. Semi (?) 

8. Sisan Baljun. These are book-keepers and of inferior 
consideifation. 

9 

In the time of Kublai Kaan the Chings&ng chosen from 
among the princes were Haitun Noydn, Uchaar, Oljai Tar- 
khan, and Ddshiman. Haitun Noyan is now no more, but 
the others remain in office as the Chingsdng of Timur Kadn. 

the Chinese original Ping-chang. But this is arbitrary, and we find in 
D'Ohsson the real form of the word as used by Bashid, viz. FanchdM, 
which differs only by dots firom Klaproth*s KaJbjan, It is also written 
Panchdn by Wassaf, and by Ssanang Setzen the Mongol historian, not 
Mioj4n but Bingjing. (See lyOhsaon, ii, 530, 636-7.) 

According to Fauthier's statement the normal composition of the 
Council of State was of two Chingsiang or chief ministers ; four Ping- 
chang, ministers of the second degree ; four minister assessors, called 
Teu^king and Tso-ching ; and two reporting coundUors, called Thsang- 
ehing, the whole number making up the twelve barons of Marco Polo. 

^ This is a word by which the Mongols designated the Nestorian Chris- 
tians with whom they had relations. Its origin is very obscure, but from 
what Marco Polo says of the term {Argon) as elucidated in a learned and 
interesting note by Pauthier, it would seem to have meant properly a 
jKUf-hreed. 

> These three ranks correspond to the Teu-ching, Tso^^hing, and 
Thsang-ching of the Chinese records (Pauthier). 



UNDER THE MONGOLS. 265 

Formerly the office of FancMn was only bestowed on 
Cathayans, but it is now held also by Mongols, Tdjiks, and 
Ighiirs. 

The chief Fanchdn is called Su Fanch&n, or the Select 
Fanchan. In our day under the reign of Timiir Kadn the 
chief of the whole number is B&y&n Fanchin/ the son of 
the Sayad Nasiruddin, who was the son of Sayad Ajal, and 
who bears the same title. The second, Omar Fanch&n, is 
also a Mongol. The third, Ik^ Fanchin, is an Ighur. Before 
him the office was filled by L&jan Fanch&n, brother of his 
Excellency the Su Fanchan ; his son is called Karm&nah. 
The fourth Paighamlsh Fanchdn, whose place was formerly 
occupied by Timur Fanch&n, is an Ighiir. 

As the Kaan generally resides at the capital he has erected 
a place for the sittings of the Great Council, called Svng, 
According to established custom a h'eutenant is appointed 
to the inspection and charge of the doors, and examines all 
the drafts of memorials^ that are presented. 

The name of the first tribunal is In. All the proceedings 
are copied and sent with the memorials to the tribunal called 
Lusah, which is of higher rank than the other. . Thence all 
is carried to the tribunal called Khalyun, and thence to the 
fourth, called Kuijun, This is the board which has charge 
of all that relates to the posts and despatches. The three 

1 The Sajad Ajal, a native of Bokhara, was finance minister to Kublai, 
and stood high in his fayoor. He died in 1270. His son Nasiruddfn was 
governor of Ear%jang (infra, pp. 269, 278). The grandson here spoken 
of, Abubakr, sumamed Bayan Fanchan, was also minister of finance, 
and was called by his grandfather's title of Sayad Ajal, which was 
highly respected by the Mongols (jyOhsson, ii, 467, 507-8). At least two 
other Bayans are notable in the history of Eublai's dynasty. The name 
Baian already appears as that of an Avar chief in the time of the Emperor 
Justin. 

^ The original word is here Balargh^i, which puzzled Elaproth. It is ex- 
plained by Pauthier {Marc Pol, 331) from Schmidt's Mongol Dictionary, 
**Ecrii, Menunre peu net, avec des ratures ou phrases retranchi-es** He adds 
that still in China all memorials, etc., for presentation to the emperor or 
his council, arc submitted to particular officers who correct their style. 



266 CONTEMPORARY NOTICES OP CATHAY. 

first mentioned tribunals are under the orders of the last ; 
and from it business is transferred to the fifths which bears 
the name otRusndyi, and which has everything that concerns 
the army under its charge. Lastly, the business arrives at 
the sixth board, which is called Siushtah,^ All ambassadors 
and foreign ^merchants when arriving and departing have to 
present themselves at this office, which is the one which 
issues orders in council and passports. In our days this 
office is entirely under the management of the Amir D&shi- 
man. 

When matters have passed these six boards, they are re- 
mitted to the Council of State, or Siii/^, where they are dis- 
cussed, and the decision is issued after being verified by the 
EJiat Angvsht or ''finger-signature" of all who have a right 
to a voice in the council. This "finger-signature*^ indicates 
that the act, to which it is attached in attestation, has been 
discussed and definitively approved by those whose mark has 
thus been put upon it. 

It is usual in Cathay, when any contract is entered into, 
for the outline of the fingers of the parties to be traced 
upon the document. For experience shows that no two 
individuals have fingers precisely alike. The hand of the 
contracting party is set upon the back of the paper contain- 
ing the deed, and lines are then traced round his fingers up 
to the knuckles, in order that if ever one of them should 
deny his obligation this tracing may be compared with his 
fingers and he may thus be convicted. 

After the matter has thus passed through all the boards, 
and has been decided on by the supreme authority, it is sent 
back to the tribunal before which it first came. 

The dignitaries mentioned above are expected to attend 

1 These are the six boards of administration whicli stiU exist in China, 
under the names of King-Pu, Hing-Pu, etc. The titles given by Bashid 
do not seem to attempt any imitation of the Chinese names^ and are pro- 
bably those in use among the Mahomedans. The third board from the 
top, called Pingpu by the Chinese, has still authority over military affairs. 



UNDER THE HONQOLS. 267 

daily at the Sing, and to make themselves acquainted with 
all that passes there. And as the business to be transacted 
is very extensive, the Chingsang take their part in the 
writing that has to be done as well as the other members of 
the council whose positions we have detailed. Each takes 
his place, according to his degree, ynth a kind of table and 
writing materials before him. Every great officer has his 
seal and distinctive bearings. It is the duty of certain of 
the clerks to write down the names of all who attend 
daily, in order .that a deduction may be made from the 
allowances of those who are absent. If any one is habitu- 
ally absent from the Council without valid excuse, he is dis- 
missed. 

It is the order of the Eaan that the four Chingsang make 
all reports to him. 

The Sing of Khanbaligh is the most eminent, and the 
building is very large. All the acts and registers and 
records of proceedings of several thousands of years are 
there preserved. The officials employed in it amount to 
some two thousand. 

Sing do not exist in all the cities, but only in the capitals 
of great provinces, which, in fact, form icingdoms ranking 
with Baghdad, Shiraz, Iconium, and Bum. 

In the whole empire of the Kaan there are twelve of these 
Sing ; but that of EHianbaligh is the only one which has 
Chingsang among its members. The others have only dig- 
nitaries bearing the title of Shijangi to preside over them, 
aided by four Fanchan, and other members of council who 
have titles corresponding to their dignities. 

The places where the Twelve Sing are established are, 
according to their respective precedence, the following : 

Ist Sing ; that of Khanbaligh or Dai'du. 2nd. That of 
the country of the Chubche^ and the Solanoea which is 

1 The Church^ are the Yuch6 or Ninch^ of the Chinese, the anoeetors 
of the modem Manchus. Solangka is the Mongol name of the northern 



268 COKTElfPORABT NOTICES OF CATHAT 

established in the city of Mdnchri, the greatest town of 
Solangka country. Ala-nddin, the son of Hasamuddin of 
ALndligh^ and Hassan Jujdk are in authority there. Srd. 
That of KoLi^ and TJkoli, a separate kingdom, the chief of 
which has the title of Wang (or king). Kublai gave his 
daughter in marriage to this prince. 4th. Nameino. This 
is a great city belonging to the province of Cathay, and 
situated on the banks of the Karamuran. It was once 
the residence of the (old) kings of Cathay.' bth. Sukchu, 
a city situated on the frontier of Cathay towards the Turks.^ 
6th, The city of Khinosai, formerly the capital of the king- 
dom of Manzi. Ala-uddin Fanchan, his son Saifuddin, and 
Taghdjar Noyan Batu Kerkh&hi, are its three chiefs. Omar 
Khwaja son of Sai', and Bik Khwaja Thusi are the Fan- 
ch&ns.* 7th. FucHU.^ This is a city of Manzi. The Sing 
was formerly located at Zaitun, but afterwards established 
here, where it still remains. The chiefs there are Ban, the 
brother of D&shiman, and Wi&]& the brother of B£y&n Fan- 
chan. Zaitun is a great shipping-port, and the commandant 
there is Boha-addin Kand&ri. 8th. Lukinfu, a city of Manzi, 
on the frontier of Tangkilt.* 9th. Lumeali, called by the 

part of Corea^ and the country through which flows the QhirinBula or 
upper part of the Songari river, (flop.) The Solangaa are mentioned by 
Bubruquis, who saw their envoys at the court of Kara Eorum. The " city 
of Munchu" is probably connected with the name of the Manehu tribes. 

^ JTooli is the Chinese name of Corea. Eoli and Akoli is not explained ; 
it is probably one of those double jingles which Orientals are fond of 
inventing, like Chin and Mctehin, 

s Namking is not our modem Nanking (which is not on the Caramuran 
or Hoang-ho), but Khaifungfu in Honan, which was the Nanghin of 
Polo, the Nan-king or " Southern Capital" of the Kin dynasty of Cathay 
or Northern China. (Klap.) 

3 SukcM, is Sucheu in Kansu province, towards the Great Desert. We 
find it called Sukchu by Shah Bukh's ambassadors, and Sowchick by 
Anthony Jenkinson. 

*, Of Khingsai (Quinsai, Cansa) we have already heard and shall hear 
more. Note how many of these provincial governors are Mahomedans. 

' Of Fucheu and Zaitun we have also heard in Odoric. 

^ One expects here the province of Szechuen, which is on the borders of 
Tangut. But the capital was Chingtvfu (see ir\fira, p. 272). 



UNDER THE MONGOLS. 269 

merchants Chineaian. This is a city of immense size on 
the sea-coast to the south of Zaitun^ and has a great haven. 
Tnkai N&m and Ruknaddln Abish&ri Fanchan are the chief 

4 

officers there.^ 10th. Kabajang. This used to be an inde- 
pendent kingdom^ and the Sing is established at the great 
city of Yachi. All the inhabitants are Mahomedans. The 
chiefs are Noyin Takln and Yakiib Beg, son of Ali Beg the 
Baltich.2 11 th. Kenjangpu, one of the cities of Tangkdt. 
Ananda the son of Numilghdn, resides in this country, at 
the place called Fanch&n N&dr, where he has built a palace.' 
12th. Machti or Kamkhu ? is also a city of Tangkdt, to 
which immense territories are attached. Akhtaki (or Achiki) 

1 On Chinlcalaii (Canton) aLso see Odoric, p. 105. The other name l>um- 
kdU is donbtfol as to reading. Yon Hammer read it Kunld. 

' Ean^'ang is Yunanl In Marco Polo the modem Tonan is divided 
into two provinces, the capital of one of which is Jaci (Tachi) as here, 
and the capital of the other called by the same name as the province. In 
Murray's edition the former province is called Caraian, and the latter 
Karcuan, whilst in Paathier's publication from old French MSS. both pro- 
vinces are called Caraian, and the name of Karazan does not occnr. But 
as we see that Karajang was the real name of the province among the 
Mahomedans, it is more likely that Caraian was miswritten for Karazan 
than vice versd, Elaproth indeed says that Yunan is still called Karaian 
by the people of central Asia, but gives no authority. The connection of 
this name with the Karens of Burma is, I suspect, as unfounded as M. 
Paathier's derivation of the Tataiits of Pegu from Tali-fii. According to 
Pauthier Yachi is Li-Kiangfu in the north-west of Yunan, and the other 
capital (Karaian or Karazan) is TaU-fu. But this makes Marco's ponent 
bear the interpretation of south, that being nearly the direction from one 
city to the other. In another passage of his great work (quoted by 
QvMtrem^e, p. zc-zcv) Bashid describes Kar^ang as a country of vast , 
extent, situated between Tibet, Tangut, the Mountains of India, Mon- 
golia, Cathay, and the country of the Zar dand&n or Gilt-Teeth, of whom 
Polo also speaks. "The Chinese called it Dai-liu (Tali?), the Hindus 
Kandar, and the Persians Kandahar." 

' This is Kingehao, now Singanfa in Shensi, the Queng^ian of Polo and 
Kansan of Odoric {supra, p. 148). According to Klaproth it was not 
Numughan, the fourth son of Kublai, but Mangala, his third son, who 
ruled in Kenchangfu, and Ananda was the son of the latter. He suc- 
ceeded his father Mangala in 1280, and was put to death in 1308, having 
claimed the throne on the death of Timur Khan. Marco himself men- 
tions Mangala as ruling in Kenchangfu as king. This is strictly cor- 
rect, for he had the Chinese title of Wang or king. 



270 CONTEMPORARY NOTICES OP CATHAY 

dwells there. The Amir Khwaja called Yasam is chief 
there.^ 

1 I suspect the tnie reading here should be Kameha, the city of Kan- 
cheu in the province of Eansu, which Marco describes under the name of 
Canpicion, " chief and capital of the whole proTince of Tangut." 

The correct division of the empire into the Twelve Sing is thus given 
by Pauthier and Klaproth from the annals of the Yuen dynasty : 

I. The Central Province, embracing the modem Shantung, Shansi, 
Pecheli, Honan north of the Hoang Ho, and part of Mongolia ; capital, 
Tatu or Peking, ii. Province of the Northern Mountains ; cap., Holin 
or Eakakobuic. hi. Liaotano, embracing the modem Liaotung, and a 
good deal more to the north. Cap. of same name. iv. Honan, com- 
prising the remainder of the modem province, with that part of Kiangnan 
which is north of the Kiang, and the greater part of Hukwang north 
of the Kiang. Cap., Pianliang, now Khaifunofu. y. Shensi, com- 
prising the modem province with the greater part of Kansu to the right 
of the Hoang-ho, and part of the Ortu territory. The capital was King- 
chao, now Sinoanfu. yi. SzBCHinEN, embraced also parts of Hukwang 
and Kweicheu. Cap., Chinotu. tii. Kansuh, cap., Kancheu. vin. 
Yunnan, the modem province with part of Kweicheu, and parts of Tibet 
and Burma. Cap., Chungking, hod., Yunnanfu. ix. Kianochb, em- 
bracing Chekiang, Kiangnan south of the Kiang, and the eastern part of 
Kiangsi. Cap., Hanocheufu, called also Kinosse, or Capital, z. 
KiANOsi, cap. Lnnghing, now Nanchanofu. zi. Hukwang, cap., 
WucHANO (Klaproth says Changshtrfu). xii. Chino-tung, which com- 
prised the kingdom of Corea. A table will better show the discrepancies 
between Bashid and the Chinese official statements. 

.y The xii Sing of the Yuen Expibe. 

From Pauthier, From Beuhid. 

1. Central Province (Tatu) 1. Khanbaligh or Daidu 

2. Northern Mountains (Mongolia) 

3. Liaoyang (including Manchuria) 2. Churche and Solanka, i.e. Man- 

4. Honan .4. Nanking [churia 
6. Shensi . .11. Keigangfii 

6. Szechuen .8. Lukinfu? 

7. Kansuh . .12. Kamchu 

8. Yunnan . .10. Kan^'ang 

9. Kiangche .6. Khingsai 

10. Kiangsi (cap., Lunghing) . ) ^ chinkalan (Canton) or LumkaU 

11. Hukwang . . . i ^ ' 

12. Chingtung (Corea) 3. Kaoli (Corea) 

7. Puchu 
5. Sukchu 

Fokien or Fuchu was, previous to 1285, and again at a later period, a 
separate province, which accounts for Bashid's making it one of the 



UNDER THE MONGOLS. 271 

As all these cities are widely apart from one another, 
there is in each a prince of the blood or other prince of 
eminent rank, who commands the troops and governs the 
people, administers public affairs and maintains the laws 
and regulations. The Sing of each kingdom or province is 
established in the chief city, and every Sing is like a little 
town in itself, so numerous are the buildings for the use of 
the various public officers, and for the multitude of attend- 
ants and slaves attached to the establishment to do petty 
duties under the chiefs of the subordinate offices. It is the 
custom in that country to remove delinquents and criminals 
from their houses, families and property of every description, 
and to employ them in carrying loads, drawing carts, or 
moving stones for building, according to the sentence passed 
upon each. 

The gentlemen attached to the princes and other persons 
of respectability, receive each the honours which are as- 
signed to their respective ranks, and of the ranks there are 
several degrees. 

As for the history of former emperors since time imme- 
morial we propose to relate it specially in the Appendix to 
this work, for in this place we must be brief.^ 

Towards the south-east everything is subject to the Kaan 
except an isle of the ocean called Chipanqu,^ which is not 
far from the coast of Church^ and Kaoli. The people of that 
country are of short stature, with great bellies and heads 
sunk between their shoulders. Straight eastward all is sub« 
ject to him that lies between the sea-coast and the frontier 
of the KiBGHiz.^ 

Twelve Sing. Kiangsi also comprised Canton prior to 1293 (at least so 
I understand Klaproth). His making Sucheu on the desert frontier a 
separate province is perhaps a mistake altogether. 

^ AU that follows is from D'Ohsson only. 

' The Cipangu, Zipangu of Polo, Japan, from the Chinese name Ji- 
pankwe ("kingdom of the Bising Son/' Pauth.) 

> There seems to be here some indication of an idea of the coast 



272 CONTEMPORARY NOTICBS OP CATHAY. 

To the Bouth-west of Manzi^ on the coast between the 
conntiy of Kowelaki and Zaitun^ there is a thick forest, 
where the son of the Emperor of Manzi has taken refuge, 
but he is without resources and lives in indigence.^ 

To the west is the country of Kafchx-kue.^ It is difficult 
of access, and is bounded by Karajang, by a part of India, 
and by the sea. It has a sovereign of its own, and includes 
in its territory the two cities of Lujak(?) and Je8sam(?). 
Tugan, who commands at Kuelinfu and is in occupation of 
Manzi, is also charged to watch the proceedings of these 
hostile people. He made an expedition into their countty 
and got possession of the cities on the coast, but after his 
rule had lasted a week the forces began to come forth of a 
sudden, as it were from the sea, from the forests, from the 
mountains, and fell upon the soldiers of Tugan, who were 
engaged in plundering. Tugan made his escape, and he 
still resides at Kuelinfu. 

To the north-west is the frontier of Tibet and of the 

of China and Eastern Asia as running west and east rather than north 
and south, and I think there are traces of the same both in Polo and 
Odorio. The latter always goes versus Orientem till he reaches Cam- 
baleo. 

^ I saspeot EowelaJci here is the same name that was preyionsly read 
Lumkali as a synonyme of the Sin-kalan or Canton province. The two 
last representatives of the Sung dynasty did take refuge on the shores of 
that province, and there the last survivor perished in 1279. This seems 
to show that Bashid sometimes wrote finom old information. 

s D'Ohsson suggests that this should be read Kanchekud, and that it is 
the Cang^gu of Marco. But the mention of the seacoast seems fatal to 
this, as Polo says specifically that Cangigu was far from the sea. In- 
deed there can be no question that Kafchekue is Lower Tungking, Kiao- 
ehi'kw4 of the Chinese. D'Ohsson's own History contains an account of 
three expeditions into Tunking by Tugan (a younger son of Kublai), in 
1285, 1287 and 1288. The last ended very disastrously, the king of 
Tungking following his retreat into Kwangsi and beating him there. 
Tugan was disgraced and forbidden the court (ii, 445, 449). Kuelinfu 
would therefore appear to be the present capital of Kwangsi so-called, 
and is perhaps the proper reading for the Lukir\fu of p. 268, though there 
incorrectly placed. 

The two names of cities are read by Quatrem^re Luchae and ffctsam 
(Rashid, p. xcv); he takes them for Hainan (reading Hainam) and Luicheu 
in the peninsula opposite that island. 



UNDBB THE MONGOLS. 273 

Goldbn-Tbeth.^ Here there are no enemies excepting on 
a point occupied by Kntlugh Ehwaja and his army. 



^ " ZoT'danddn," (Pen.), the name used liiertUim by Polo for this people, 
and a tranalation of the term Kin-^M by which they were known to the 
Chinese. Polo places them five days poneni or west of the dty of Oaraian 
(or Caraaan of some copies), which Pauthier identifies with Tali-fd. He 
ascribes to them the eccentric custom, found among various wUd racei^' 
ancient and modem, which sends the hvsband to keep his bed for a season 
when the wife has given birth to a child, and fixes their chief city at 
Voeiam (Tung-chang). Passages nearly but not quite identical with one 
another which Quatremdre has quoted from the lustory of Benaketi and 
from another part of the Jami'-ut'Tawdrikh of Bashid speak of this 
people. "To the south-west of Cathay," they say in substance, "lies 
Karajang, an extensive country lying between Tibet, Tangut, the moun- 
tains of India, Mongolia^ Cathay, and the Covniry of tT^e Gold Teeth, 
The Indians call it Eandar, and we (Persians, etc.) Kandahar, the Chinese 
Dailiu (Tali ?) The king is called Mahara or C^reat Prince ; the capital 
Yathi (Jaei of Polo). Among its people part are black (whence Kara' 
Jang or Black Jang), part white, called Chaga/n-Jang or White Jang "...It 
is not improbable tiiat the Kara-Jang and Chagan-Jang (compare with 
Karazum of Polo) represent Black Shdnt and White Shdm^s, and that the 
colours refer not to complexion but to dress. We always knew the Shand 
at Amarapura by their coats of black calico, " North-west of China is the 
frontier of Tibet and of the Oold-Teeth, who lie between Tibet and Kara- 
jang." These people cover their teeth with a gold case which they take 
off when they eat." There is another passage of Bashid among Elliot's 
extracts in which this people is mentioned, a passage which would be 
most interesting if the names were not so mangled. Speaking of Maabar, 
the historian says that two ways to China diverge thence. The first is 
by Sarandip (Ceylon), LdmCLri, the countiy of Sumatra, and Darband Nids, 
a dependency of Java^ Champa and Haitam (qu. HainaTi ?), subject to the 
Kaan, and so to Mahachin (Canton), Zaitun, and Khinad, "With respect 
to the other road which leads from Maabar by way of Cathay, it commences 
at the dty of Cabal (read KaU), then proceeds to the city of OotiyCk and ' 
ScAj<k, dependencies of Cabal, then to Tamdifatam, then Karorama'wdr, 
then to B.awar6w<in, then to Dakli, then to Bijatdr, which from of old is 
subject to Dehli, and at this time one of the cousins of the sultan of 
Dehli has conquered it and established himself, having revolted against 
the sultan. His army consists of Turks. Beyond that is the countzy of 
Ka&tan, then IXtnon, then Zardakdan, so called because the people have 
gold in their teeth. They puncture their hands and colour them with 
indigo. They eradicate their beards so that they have not a sign of 
hair on their faces. They are all subject to the Kaan. Thence you 
arrive at the borders of Tibet, where ^ey eat raw meat and worship 
images, and have no shame respecting their wives (see Folo, i, 44, 46). 



274 CONTBMPOBAEY NOTICES OF CATHAY. 

However, the enemy is shut off from the empire in this 
quarter by high mountains which he cannot penetrate. 
Nevertheless some troops have been posted to watch this 
frontier. 

To the north-north-west a desert of forty days* extent 
divides the states of Kublai from those of Kaidu and Dua.^ 
JlfThis frontier extends thirty days from east to west. From 
point to point are posted bodies of troops under the orders 
of princes of the blood or other generals, and they often 
come to blows with the troops of Kaidu. Five of these 
corps are cantoned on the verge of the Desert ; a sixth in 
the territory of Tangut, near Chdgdn Naur (White Lake) ; 

The air is so impure that if they ate their dmner alter noon they 
would all die. They boil tea and eat winnowed barley." It is clear 
enough that the second part of this passage indicates a route to China 
from Coromandel by Bengal and the Indo-Chinese countries, but the 
names have been desperately corrupted. Tamlifatan looks very like a 
misreading of BvmX\fatan, the port of Bimlipaiam, on the coast of the 
N. Circars; and BiQaldr is certainly BengaXv^, quasi-independent under 
Nasir-uddin, son of the Emperor Balban, and his family. Kaihan may 
just possibly have been a mispronunciation of HaJbang, i.e. Silhet (see 
Ibn Batuta ififra) ; whilst XJvMkn is probably the Chinese XJ-man or Ho- 
mom, the name applied to one of the wild tribes of the Upper Irawadi re- 
gion. Goqu and Sabju look like Chinese names, so entirely out of place 
that I suspect interpolation by 'some .one misunderstanding the route ; 
the remaining names I have tried in vain to solve in any consistent 
manner. 

Pauthier quotes passages from the Chinese Annals showing that the 
office of " Direction of Frontier Protection " and the like for the Gold- 
Teeth territory was established in Kublai's reign, at or near Tali. But 
it seems to me that in his-map he places this people too fax to the south, 
and that it is pretty clear from all the passages just quoted, that thoy 
are to be placed at least as high as lat. 24^ — 25o, corresponding in posi- 
tion genendly to the existing Sing^^hot, (Quah'6m^e'< Raahid, pp. 
Ixxxvi-xcvi; EVliot, p. 46; Pauthiefr^B Polo, pp. 391-2, 397 seq,) 

1 See ante, p. 195. For a time at least there were two Mongol dynasties 
in Central Asia, between the frontier of the Great Khan and the Caspian. 
Kaidu, great grandson of Chinghiz through his second son and successor 
Okkodai, and who disputed the suzerainty with Kublai through life, re- 
presented one of these, whilst that of Chagatai was the other. Sec a 
note appended to Ibn Batuta {i^fra) *' On the Uistoiy of the Khans of 
Chagatai." 



UNDER THE MONGOLS. 275 

« 

a seventh in the vicinity of Karakhoja^ a city of the Uigurs,^ 
which lies between the two states and maintains nentrality. 
This frontier ends at the mountains of Tibet. The great 
Desert cannot be crossed in summer, because of the want 
of water ; in winter they have only snow-water to drink. 

^ There are at least two Lakes in Mongolia called by the name of 
Chagan-Nor ; one the Cyagawnor or Cianganor of Polo where Kablai had 
a palace, not far from Shangta {swpra, p. 134); the other lying north-east 
of Kamil, about lat. 45® 45' and east long. 96**> which appears to be that 
here intended, as the first is far from Tangut. Earakhoja is still a town 
of Eastern or Chinese Turkestan, the position of which is indicated by 
Timkowski as south of Turfan, and one of the districts of that province 
(i, 386 ; see also Bitter, vii, 432, 435). It seems to have continued to be 
the frontier of the Chinese rule a century later under the Ming ; for 
Shah Bukh's ambassadors, on their arrival at Karakhoja, or a short dis- 
tance east of it, met the first Chinese officials, who took down a list of 
the party {Not, et Extr., xiv, pt. i, 389). In another passage of Bashfd, 
quoted by Qnatrem^re, he says : " When you descend below the Chagan 
Naur, you are near the city of Karakhoja in the Uigur countiy, where 
they have good wine (16., p. 235). 



IV. 

PEGOLOTTl'S NOTICES OF THE LAND ROUTE 

TO CATHAY. 



fricnl' 

mom 

a and 



IV. 

NOTICES OF THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY AND 

OF ASIATIC TRADE IN THE FIRST HALF OF 

THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 

BY PltANCIS BALDUCCI PEOOLOTTI. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 

The original of the curious work ^m which the extractB in the 
following pages are derived, was first published as an appendix 
to an anonymous book called " A Treatise on the Decima and the 
various other burdens imposed on the community of Florence ; also 
on the currency and commerce of the Florentines up to the Sixteenth 
Century, (In four vols., 4to.) Lisbon and Lucca, 1765-66." 
(Delia Decima, etc.). The imprint is fictitious, as the work was 
really published at Florence, and the author was Gian Francesco 
Pagnini del Ventura of Volterra.^ 

The work of Pegolotti occupies the whole of the third volume. 
It was taken by Pagnini from a MS., apparently unique, in the 
Riccardian Library at Florence, called by the author {Lihro di 
Divisamenti di Paesi, etc.) " The Book of the Descriptions of Gown- 
trieSy^^ etc., though Pagnini gave it the more descriptive title of 

1 CanofiMO Morenx, Bybliografia Storico-Ragionaia della Toacana, ii, 
p. 144-5. Pagnmi was bom at Volterra in 1715, and studied law at 
Borne. He filled a snooession of considerable offices connected with 
Finance and Agricnl' ier the Tuscan Government, and died in 

1789. There is a mom id bast erected by his friends in the cloister 

of S. Annomsiata and or Magg^ore at Florence. Besides the work 

named above he published in cooperation with Angelo Tavanti (1751) a 
translation of Locke upon Interest and the Value of Money, with a dis- 
sertation of his own on the True Price of Things, on Money, and on the 
commerce of the Bomans. He also published letters on agricultural 
subjects, and was the editor of Applaun Poetiei per laglorioaa Esaltaaione 
all' Augtuio Trono Imperiale di Fra/ncesco III, Oranduca di Toicana" 
Firenze, 1745. (See Seritt. Cla^^, Ital. di Economia PoUtica, Pte, Modema, 
tom. II ; and Moreni, u.8.) 

s I imagine this to be the proper translation of Diviiamenti here, as 
Marco Polo's book is in some copies termed '* Divisement des DivernUs," 
etc. (Pauthier, p. 33). 

* 



280 NOTICES OF THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 

ProHca deiUa Mercatura. Baldelli Boni, writmg some forty years 
ago, says that the manuscript conld no longer be found in the 
Biccardiana. Howeyer it is to be found there now and I have 
examined it. It is a handsome paper folio, purporting to have 
been transcribed by the hand of Filippo di Nicolaio di Fresco- 
baldi at Florence in the year 1471, and bears the No. 2441 in 
the collection. 

Nothing is known of the author, Francesco Balducci Pego- 
iotti, except what is gathered from his own book. From it we 
learn that he was a factor in the service of the Company of the 
Bardi of Florence. In various incidental statements also he 
lets us know that he was at Antwerp in their service from 1315 
(and probably earlier) to 1317, when he was transferred to 
London ;^ and that he was employed in Cjprns from May 1324 
to August 1327, for at those and intermediate dates he made 
sundry applications to the King of Cyprus for the reduction 
of duties payable by his countrymen, who had previously 
been liable to heavier duties than the Pisans, and had con- 
sequently been obliged to employ their agency. Balducci, indig- 
nant at the conduct of the Pisans, who treated the Florentines, 
he says, *' like Jews or slaves of theirs," made these successful 
effi>rts to get rid of this obligation.' 

In 1335 the author was still at Cyprus, or had returned thither, 
and obtained in that year from the King of Lesser Armenia a 
grant of privileges to the company which he served for their 
trade at Aiazzo or Aias, the port of that kingdom on the Gtdf of 
Scanderoon.' 

I PegoUtti, p. 257. « P. 71. 

' P. 45. Aiazzo, or Aias, the ancient JEgeo, opposite Issus, is mentioned 
several times by Marco Polo as Laias. Whilst Persia was in the hands 
of the Mongols a great part of the Indian trade came by Baghdad to 
Tabriz, and thence by the route detailed in Pegolotti's chapter vi to 
Aiazzo for shipment. The port was in the hands of the Christian princes 
called the Kings of Little Armenia, whose dynasty was founded in the 
mountains of Cilioia in the year 1080, by Bapen, a kinsman of the last 
King of Armenia Proper of the race of the Bagratidffi. Bupen's ninth 
successor, Leon II, got the title of king from Pope Celestine III and the 
Emperor Henry VI in the end of the twelfth century, and the line con- 
tinued till 1342. The kingdom endured thirty-three years longer under 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 281 

The Bardi' failed in 1339, owing to their unprofitable dealings 
with the King of England (Edward III). They and the Com- 
pany of the Peruzzi were the "king's merchants/* or as we should 
now say, bankers and agents, receiving all his rents and incom- 
ings in wool and the like, whilst meeting all his demands for 
cash and stores. But these last so much exceeded the receipts on 
bis account that there was a balance due from him of 180,000 
marks sterling to the Bardi, and 135,000 marks to the Peruzzi, 
each mark being equal to four and a half gold florins, so that 
the bad debt amounted on the whole to 1,365,000 florins, " che 
valeano un reame,'' as the Florentine chronicler says. Much of 
the money advanced consisted of the deposits of citizens and 
foreigners (including English), and the stoppage of payment 
was a great blow to Florentine commerce and to credit generally. 
The Bardi however seem to have got on their legs again suffi- 
ciently to fail a second time in 1345, for the sum of 550,000 
florins.* Whether they recovered from this second failure I do 
not know, but other circumstances referred to by the author of 
the Decima fix the date of Pegolotti's book to about 1340. It 
could not of course have been written earlier than the last year 
of residence in Cyprus to which he makes the reference quoted 
above, and it must have been written before the death of Eling 
Robert of Naples, of the house of Anjou, whom he speaks of in 
one passage as still reigning.^ That event occurred in 1343. 

Pegolotti's Handbook, for it is just such, is purely mercantile 

kings of the house of Losig^nan. In the time of Haiton or Hetham I, 
when it was perhaps most flourishing, it embraced all Cilida^ with many 
cities of Syria, Cappadoda, and Isauria. The institutions of this coun- 
try were a curious compound, uniting an Armenian church and nation- 
ality with Greek legislation, and the feudal institutions and social g^rada- 
tions of the Franks. The capital was at Sis, where there are still an 
Armenian population and an Armenian monastery and patriarch. (See 
papers hy Jhilaurier in Jour, As., ser. v, tom. xvii and xviii ; Ih,, v, 262 ; 
lyOhsson, ii, 810; St. Martin, Mem. sur VArmenie, vol. i.) 

^ This house gave a husband to Dante's Beatrice; — and a heroine to 
George Elliott in Bomola ! 

' Delia Dedma; Oiov. ViUani, Istoria Fiorentina, bk. zi, ch. 87. The 
English gold florin was coined in 1343 to weigh 2 Florentine florins, and 
to be worth 6s. (See Akermawn's Ntun. Manual, p. 267) Hence 4i Fl. 
florins =» 13«. 6d., or a little over a mark. But IBs. 6d. represented three 
times as much silver as now. * " Questo Be Uherto," p. 186. 



y 



282 NOTICES OF THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 

in its bearings, and even in those parts which are not mere list-s 
or figured statements is written in the dryest and most inartificial 
style, if style it can be called. Devoting snccessive chapters to 
the various ports and seats of traffic of his time, and proceeding 
from the Asiatic coasts of the Mediterranean westward, he details 
the nature of the exports and imports, the duties and exactions, 
the customs of business appropriate to each locality, as well as 
the value of the moneys weights and measures of each country 
in relation to those of the places with which they chiefly had to 
deal. Rude essays on various practical matters are interspersed 
and appended. 

The book might have slept as undisturbed under the unat- 
tractive title of Pagnini's quartos, as it had done for centuries in 
manuscript on the shelves of the Florentine libraries, had not the 
Germans Forster and Sprengel got scent of it and made it the 
subject of some comment in their geographical works.' 

Their comments refer to the first two chapters of Pegolotti, 
the most ihteresting of the whole, and which I shall give un- 
abridged. I shall also give one or two chapters that follow, 
having more or less bearing on our subject, and a few additional 
extracts where the matter seems of sufficient interest. 

The notices of Sprengel seem to have furnished the source 
from which nearly all later writers who have touched on Pego- 
lotti have derived their information, as is shown by their copying 
an error of the press which makes him in Sprengel's book 
Pegoletti, Even Humboldt, Bemusat, and Ritter do tliis, and 
the latter assumes besides that Pegolotti had himself made the 
journey to Cathay, which he describes. For this assumption 
there is not the slightest ground.* It is evident indeed from the 

1 See Forster, HitL des DScouverUs et des Voyages dans le Nord (Fr. 
Trails.), Paris, 1788, p. 242 si seq. ; and Qesehichte der WichHgsien Geog. 
Entdeckungen, etc., von JIf. C. Sprengel (2nd ed.), Halle, 1792. I suppose 
that Sprengel's first edition preceded Forster, as the former says (p. 253) 
that no one had yet made use of Pegolotti in the history of the Chinese 
trade. The original of these two chapters is given in App. III. 

* See Erdkunde, ii, 404, and posthomous Lectures on the Hist, of Geo- 
graphy, Berlin, 1861, p. 220. These errors are probably derived from 
Malte Bran (see I/AveKae, p. 428). Even the Biograpkie UniverseUe speaks 
positively of Pegolotti's having visited all the places mentioned by him 



INTRODUCTORY N0TICS8. 283 

« 

ierma of the aocount that the road to Cathay was not nnfre- 
qnentlj travelled by European merchants in his day, and from 
some of these Pegolotti had obtained the notes which he com- 
municates, as he himself in one passage distinctly intimates.^ 

The fourth Tolume also of Pagnini's work is occupied by a 
later book of character similar to that of Pegolotti's, written in 
1440 by Griovanni di Antonio da Uzzano, under the name of 
Lihro di Oahelli e Paegi e Miture di jpiu e diversi Liwghi, etc. At 
that date direct intercourse with Eastern Asia had long been 
interrupted, and the book has nothing of interest to extract for 
this collection. It contains, however, among other matters, 
some curious lists of the duties on a vast variety of wares at the 
different Italian marts, and a treatise containing sailing direc- 
tions for the Mediterranean. 

Pegolotti's book begins as follows : 

In the Name of the Lord^ Amen ! 
This book is called the Book of Descriptions of Countries 
and of measures employed in business^ and of other things 

needful to be known by merchants of different parts of the 

'J 

worlds and by. all who have to do with merchandize and 
exchanges ; showing also what relation the merchandize of 
one country or of one city bears to that of others ; and how 
one kind of goods is better than another kind ; and where 
the various wares come from^ and how they may be kept as 
long as possible. 

The book was compiled by Francis Balducci Pegolotti of 
Florence, who was with the Company of the Bardi of 
Florence, and during the time that he was in the service of 

on the route to Cathay, and adds : " Independent of the route which he 
followed in going to China, Pegolotti describeB also that of the caravans 
which without doubt he followed in returning from the Indies to the 
Mediterranean." This is grievous inaccuracy. Pegolotti never was in 
China, and describes no such return route as is here indicated. The 
nearest approach to it is the list of toUs between Aiazzo and Tabriz in 

his chapter vi. 

1 " Seeondo che ti conta per gli mtreaianH ehe Vhanno uaato" is his ex- 
pression with regard to the road in question. 



284 NOTICES OF THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY^ ETC. 

the said Company, for the good and honour and prosperity 
of the said Company, and for his own, and for that of who- 
soever shall read or transcribe the said book. And this copy 
has been made from the book of Agnolo di Lotto of Antello, 
and the said book was transcribed from the original book of 
the said Francesco Balducci. 

This is followed by several pages of explanations of abbrevia- 
tions and technicalitieB of different countries, which are used in 
the book. Thus : 

Tamvmga in Tauris,^ and throughout Persia, at Trebizond, 
at Caffa, and throughout all the cities of the Tartars ; Peaa- 
done in Armenia;^ Boana^ in all the cities of the Saracens, 
in Sicily, in Naples, and throughout the kingdom of Apulia; 
Piazza, Foiidaco,^ Bindanajq, also throughout all Sicily and 

^ TwMMi is printed in the Decima, but unquestionably it should be Torisi. 
Tamungha no doubt stands for Tamgha, a name which was applied to aU 
customs and transit duties under the Mongol Khans of Persia. (See 
lyOhMon, ir, 973, 386.) The word meant a seal, and going still fVirther 
back was the term applied to the distinguishing brands of cattle among 
the Mongols. (F. Hammer, Gold, Horde, 220.) When Sultan Baber was 
engaged in a holy war with the Bi^put Bana Sanga, he made one of his 
great abjurations of wine, and vowed that he would renounce the Tamgha 
if victorious. Accordingly he published a firman, solemnly announcing 
his repentance, and declaring that in no city or town, on no road or street 
or passage should the Tamgha be received or levied. The translators 
render it stamp-iaa, but the passages in D'Ohsson, aa weU as Baber^s 
words, seem to show that it was a transit duty. (Baber, p. 856.) 

9 Among documents of the kingdom of Lesser Armenia quoted in 
Dulaurier's papers referred to above, we find Patidwn and Paeidonum, 
with the meaning of Customs, custom-house, and Capitaneus Posidoneus 
de Ayacio, as the appellation of the chief of the custom-house in that port. 
(J. As., ser. v, tom. xviii, 826, 827.) Pasidonum is a Latinization of the 
Armenian Pdjd'CM, from pdj, toll or customs, a word still existing in that 
language. {8t. Martin, in Notices et Extraits, xi, 116, 117.) 

' Doana, or in modem Italian Dogana, is believed to be firom the Arabic 
Deiw6/a, '* council, council-hall, tribunal." Giov. da Uzzano spells it Do- 
vana, which seems somewhat to confirm this derivation. {DeUa Dec,, iv, 
119) 

* Some of these seem to be names of particular payments, not of 
duties or eusUmis in general; piassa, probably a market tax;/on<2a6o, pay- 
ment for warehousing, which he ehjewhere calls /ondoca^^. Alfandega, 
however, is custom-house in Portuguese. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 285 

the kingdom of Apulia ; Gomerchio in all the cities of the 
Greeks, and in Cyprus ;^ Dazio at Venice; Oabella through- 
out Tuscany ; Spedicamento and Pedaggio at Genoa ; 
Chiaveria^ throughout Provence ; Lelda,^ in part of Provence 
and in France ; Malatolta,^ Pedaggio, and Bara^ throughout 
all Prance; Toloneo^ throughout Flanders ; Foveo (?) through- 
out Brabant ; Costuma throughout the Island of England ; 
FedxP at Tunis in Barbary ; Munda in Friuli ; Mangona and 
TalcMch in Spain f 

^ Ko/ifi4pKtow and icov/A4pictoy, Tributum, Vectigal pro mereimoniia exsolvi 
Bolihun will be found in Dncange. (Oloas. QrcBcitatU, etc.) From the 
Greeks the word passed to the Turks and Arabs, see in Freytag*s Lexicon 
(3 M»- ^® "^ ^^ i^ the Genoese version of a treaty with the Tartars 
of Ckhzaria, a.d. 1380, Comerho and Comerha for customs and custom- 
house. (Not et Ext,, 11, 54, 57.) 

* Some of these are probably slang. Chiaveria, key-money ? 

' Perhaps should be Levda, which we find mentioned by Giovanni da 
Uzzano (p. 162) as the name of a tax at Barcelona paid by buyers or 
sellers not being freemen of the city. Ltuda, Lesda, or Ledda, according 
to Bncange, is any duty, especiaUy one paid on merchandize. 

* Malatolta, according to the same authority, is an arbitrary exaction 
forcibly taken under the name of duty or customs. He quotes among 
other examples a charter of Philip the Fair to the people of Bordeaux, 
which speaks of " Asaisnum seu coaiumam qua in iUo loco et lode eircum^ 
vieini* Malatolta vulgaHter nuncttpatur ;" and one also of Peter of Gastille 
which introduces the terms in the text preceding and following : " 8int 
immunes ah omni pedagio, leudi, coetumft, malatoltA, seu aUis quibusdomh 
impotitionilyna" The orig^inal for taxes and customs at p. 240 mpra is 
Iruuaigea et mdlestoultes. The teiin shows just the same state of feeling 
that led the people in the Korth-West Provinces of India to apply to the 
tolls that used to be levied on the Grand Trunk Bead, the terms LiU 
(plunder) and Zulm (oppression). 

* Tolls were called Barrm, especially such as were levied at the gates 
and harrier $ of towns (Ducange), 

' " Telon, Teloneum, Toloneum, Toll, Tolnetum, etc., Tributum de mer- 
cibus marinia circa littua acceptum" (Ducange), Our English word Toll. 

' Arab, "/add, Bes qu& aliquis redimitur et liberatur" (Freytag). In 
a treaty between the Genoese and the Soldan of Babylon (Egypt) in 1290, 
we find the following : " Item quod Januenaea non compellaniur nee cofn- 
peUi debeant ad aolvendum...nec feda nee aliquid aliud," etc. (Notieea et 
BxtraUa, xi, 39.) The word may have had a specific application in the 
custom-houses which has escaped the lexicog^phers. 

* On Talaoch my friend Mr. Badger says : " This is probably from the 
Arabic j^\ (Hldq), meaning releaaing, setting free. It might have been 




i- 



286 NOTICES OF THE lAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 

All these names mean duties which haye to be paid for 
goods and wares, and other things, imported to or exported 
from, or passed through the countries and places detailed in 
this paragraph. 

Mercato in Tuscan ; and Piazza^ in several tongues ; 
Bazarra and Baba in Genoese;' Fondaco in several lan- 
guages ; Foda in Cyprus ; Alla^ in Flemish ; Sttgo in Sara- 
cenesque ;^ Fiera in Tuscan and several other tongues ; 
Panichiero in Greek '^ 

All signify the place where goods are sold in cities, and 
where in towns and villages all manner of victuals and 
necessaries for the life of man are brought for sale, with com 
and cattle which are brought there continually at certain 
fixed times of the week, or month, or year. 

These may suffice as specimens. 

Then some doggrel verses to the following purport introduce 
the body of the work. 

** Honesty is always best 

And to look before ye leap : 
Do ever what thou promisest ; 

And, hard though it may be, still keep 
Fair chastity. Let reason tell 
Cheap to buy and dear to sell. 
Bat have a civil tongae as well. 
Frequent the church's rites, and spare 
To Him who sends thy gains a share. 
So shalt thou prosper, standing by one price. 



And shunning pest-Uke usury and dice. 
Take aye good need to govern weU thy pen. 
And blunder not in black and white ! Aksn ! 



applied to the stamp or certificate by which goods were declared to be 
firee after payment of customs. I am not aware that the word is used in 
that sense now." This suggestion is streng^ened by the analogous use 
of Fadd in the preceding note, and by the &ct that Pegolotti in a later 
passage calls it Intalaeca, an export duty levied in the ports of Morocco. 
By Spain he means the Moorish ports on both sides of the strait, as his 
details show (pp. 278 seqq.), 

1 PioBza is commonly used for mercato in Palermo, where this note is 
written. 

^ I do not know what Baha is, unless (like BoMorra) borrowed from the 
Arabic Baba', " a quarter" (see under Bashiduddin, supra, p. 25). 

3 The French Halle. * Arab. 8<iq. 

^ This must be wamry^piw, which has the meaning of a fiur or market 
in Byzantine Qreek (Dttcange). 



NOTICES OF THB LAND BOUTE TO CATHAT^ ETC. 287 



CHAPTER I. 

Infonnation regarding the jonmej to Cathay, for such as will go by 

Tana and oome back with goods. 

In the first place^ from Tana to Gintakchan^ may be twenty- 
five days with an ox- waggon, and from ten to twelve days 
with a horse-waggon. On the road yon will find plenty of 
Moccols, that is to say, of gens d'armes? And from Gittar- 
chan to Saba may be a day by river, and from Sara to 
Sabacanco,^ also by river, eight days. You can do this 
either by land or by water ; but by water you will be at less 
charge for your merchandize. 

From Saracanco to Obganci may be twenty days' journey 
in camel-waggon. It will be well for anyone travelling with 

> Qifiiarehan, or as below less incorrectly Qiitarchcm,, is Astracan, 
though according to Sprengel the old city destroyed by Timur in 1395 
was farther from the Caspian than the present one. It is mentioned by 
Bubraqois in the preceding century as Sommerkeor or Snmmerkent, 
most probably a clerical error for Bittarkent, and in this centuiy it was 
the seat of a Minorite convent. The original name was Bai-, or Hc^'t- 
Tarkhan, Ibn Batata says it was so called after a devout Hi^ who esta- 
blished himself there, in consideration of which the prince exempted the 
place from all duties, TarkKan, he says, signifying a flace free from dutiet. 
This is a mistake, however, for Tarkha^ among the Mongols denoted a 
peraxm, the member of an order ex^oying high privileges, such as freedom 
from all exactions, the right to enter the sovereign's presence onsum- 
moned, and exemption from punishment for crime till a ninth time con- 
victed. D'Ohsson quotes the mention of this title by a Greek author as 
old as the time of the Emperor Justin. (Jhn B<Uuta, ii, 410, and Edr's. 
note, 458; iy0h8»<m, i, 45, etc.) • In the Carta Catalana and Portulano 
Mediceo the place appears as Aqitarchami in Fra Mauro's Map as Aue- 
frtehtm ; by Barbaro and others, up to the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, we find it called Citrncan. 

^ MoeeoU are in another passage explained by Pegolotti to be Tariati 
McKerani, bandits or troopers. The word is, I suppose, simply IfongoU, 
or rather as called in Western Asia MoghoU, which will be almost the 
Tuscan pronunciation of Moecol, Indeed the word is called by the Ar- 
meniajis Miichal (Neumann's Chron, of Vahram, p. 88). 

* On Sarai see supra, p. 231. Saracanco appears to be unquestionably 
Sarachik, on which, and on Organei or Urghaig, see pp. 232, 234. 



288 NOTICES OF THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 

merchandize to go to Organci, for in that city there is a 
ready sale for goods. Prom Organci to Oltbaere^ is thirty- 
five to forty days in. camel- waggons. But if when you leave 
Saracanco you go direct to Oltrarre, it is a journey of fifty 
days only, and if you have no merchandize it will be better 
to go this way than to go by Organci. 

Prom Oltrarre to Abmalec* is forty-five days' journey with 
pack-asses, and every day you find Moccols. And from 
Armalec to Cambxu* is seventy days with asses, and from 
Camexu until you come to a river called is forty- 
five days on horseback ; and then you can go down the river 
to Cassai,* and there you can dispose of the aovimH^ of silver 

> Oltarre is Otr&r, previoasly called Fax&b, a city of TorkeBtan, of which 
it was once considered the capital. It stands, or stood (for there seems 
no recent knowledge of it) on a tributary of the Sihiin or Jazartes, aboat 
two leagues from that river, about lat. 44° 30', some distance west of the 
town called Turkestan in the maps. Its capture by Chinghiz in 1219 wiw 
the commencement of his Western conquests ; and it was at Otrar that 
the great Timur died, 17th February, 1405. Haiton calls the city Octorar, 
the greatest city of Turkestan. It stood on the frontier, between the 
Khanates of Eapchak and Zagatai. 

> See p. 236. 

* Camexu (i.e. Camechu) is considered by Foster to be Hami or Eamil, 
with the Chinese chu added. But there can be no doubt that it is the 
Chinese frontier city Kanchu in Eansu. That city is called by Bashid- 
eddin and by the author of MesaJak al-Absar Kamchu, so that the West- 
em Asiatics called it just as Pegolotti does. Moreover the latter author 
aJlows only forty days from Almalik (Armalec) to Eamchu, showing that 
the time named by Pegolotti is most ample allowance. The same 
author allows forty days from Eamchu to Ehanbalik {Notices el Eatraiis, 
xiii, 226). 

* Forster chooses to consider Cassai to be a place called Eissen, on the 
Hoang Ho. It is not worth while to look if there is such a place, for 
Cassai is obviously Quinsai, Cansai, Eingsz^, the commercial city of 
China at that time, hod. Hangcheufu. It is called Cassai in the Porta- 
lano Mediceo and Caeeay in the " Livre du Qrant Caan" (supra, p. 244). 

The river reached in forty-five days fr^m Eancheu is most probably 
the Chreat Canal. Forster, according to Baldelli Boni (I presume in 
some later edition of his work than that used by me) supplies the blank 
with Karamuren from a MS. that belonged to Sprengel. But this is of no 
authority, for the blank exists in the original MS. in the Biccardian 
library. 

^ Sommi of silver is written in the MS. sonmi, and is so printed by 



NOTICES OF THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC, 289 

that you have with you, for that is a most active place of 
business. After getting to Cassai you carry on with the 
money which you get for the sommi of silver which you sell 
there ; and this money is made of paper, and is called balishi. 
And four pieces of this money are worth one sommo of silver 
in the province of Cathay.^ And from Cassai to Gama- 

Pagnini. Bat it is a mere flMliion of writing. Pegolotti writes also ehan' 
mino, ehanmello,fenmina, bat Pagnini does not print these so. Indeed 
Giovanno da Uzzano (p. 188) writes aommi. The aommo, as explained in 
the next chapter, was a silver ingot weighing eight and a half Genoese 
onnces. Ibn Batata mentions these as carrent among the Tartars under 
the name of sown, sing, taumah. He says the weight of each saamah or 
sommo was five ounces, i.e., I suppose, five-twelfths of a ritkl (ii, 412, 414). 
Yon Hammer says that the t&m (as he terms it) was in the form of an 
octahedron, and quotes from the Persian historian Wassaf a passage 
which shows that the term was applied also to ingots of gold (Oesehichte 
der Gold. Horde, pp. 223, 224). 

^ Here Pegolotti speaks of the celebrated paper money of China, once 
deemed a fable of Marco Polo's, though before his time even it had been 
distinctly mentioned by the intelligent friar Bubruquis. 

Its use was of great antiquity, for traces at least of leather repre- 
sentatives of money are found as for back as b.g. 119. In the reign of 
Hiantsung of the Thang dynasty (a.d. 806-821), copper being scarce, notes 
were issued on deposits from the public treasury, and were current for some 
years. These issues were renewed under the Sung (a.d. 960), and, some 
sixty years later amounted in nominal value to 2,830,000 ounces of silver. 
These were followed by further issues of real paper money, issued without 
reference to deposits (? so says Elaproth), and payable every three years. 
The business at this time was managed by sixteen chief houses, but these 
becoming bankrupt, the emperor abolished private notes, and established 
a government bank, the issues of which in 1032 amounted to 1,256,340 
ounces. Such banks were established in several parts of the empire, 
the notes of one province not being current in another. 

In 1160, in the reign of Kaotsung, anew paper was issued, the amount 
of which rose in six years to 43,600,000 ounces. There were local notes 
besides, so that the empire was fiooded with paper, rapidly depreciating 
in value. 

When the invaders who formed the Hn or Golden dynasty had esta- 
blished themselves in Northern China they also speedily took to paper, 
notwithstanding their name. Their notes had a course of seven years, 
after which new notes were given by government with a deduction of 15 
percent. 

The Mongols did like their predecessors. Their first notes were issued 
in 1236, but on a small scale compared to the issues of Kublai and his 
successors. Kublai's first issue was in 1260; and consisted of notes of 

19 



290 NOTICES OF THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 

lee [Cambalec]^ which is the capital city of the conntry of 
Cathay, is thirty days' journey. 

three dasses ; viz., notes of tens, i.e. of 10, 20, 30, and 50 tnen or caah ; 
notes of hondreds, of 100, 200, and 600 tsien ; and notes of 9iringi or 
thousands of cash, viz. of 1000 and 2000. This money, however, was worth 
only half its nominal value, so that two notes of 1000 cash went for an 
onnoe of pore silver. There were also notes printed on silk, for 1, 2, 8, 
5 and 10 ounces each^ valued at par in silver; but these would not circu- 
late. In 1277 Kublai made a new issue of very small notes ; and a com- 
plete new currency in 1288. One of these new notes was as before worth 
half its nominal value in silver, but was to be exchanged against >li76 of 
equal nominal value of the old notes ! 

In 1809 a new issue took place with a like valuation ; i.e., one ounce 
note of this issue was to exchange against five of Kublai's last issue, and 
therefore against twenty-five of his older notes 1 And it was at the same 
time prescribed that the new notes should exchange at par with metak, 
which of course it was beyond the power of government to enforce, and 
so the notes were abandoned. 

Issues continued from time to time to the end of the Mongol dynasty, 
but according to the Chinese authors with credit constantly diminishing. 
This depreciation might easily escape Odoric, but it is curious that it 
should be so entirely ignored by PegolotU, whose informants must have 
been mercantile men. In fact he asserts positively that there was no 
depreciation. (See helow,) 

The remarks of Matwanlin, a medieval Chinese historian, on this sub- 
ject are curiously like a bit of modem controversy : " Paper should never 
be money ; it should only be employed as a representative sign of value 
existing in metals or in produce, which can thus be readily exchanged 
for paper, and the cost of its transport avoided. At first this was the 
mode in which paper currency was actually used among merchants. The 
government, borrowing the invention from private individuals, wished to 
make a real money of paper, and thus the original contrivance was per- 
verted." 

The Ming dynasty for a time carried on the system of their predeces- 
sors, and with like restdts, till in 1448 the chao, or note, of 1000 cash, was 
worth but 8 ! Barbaro still heard of the paper money of Cathay from 
travellers whom he met at Azov about this time, but after 1455 there is 
said to be no more mention of it in Chinese history. 

Though the government of China has not issued paper mon^ since 
then, there has been considerable local use of such currency among the 
people, even in our own time. In Fucheu some years ago it had almost 
displaced bullion, and in that city the banking houses were counted by 
hundreds. Though the system was under no efficient control, few notes 
were below par, and fiiilures of any magnitude were rare. The notes were 
chiefly from copper plates (and such notes were engraved in China as 
early as 1168) and ranged in value from 110 cash to 1000 dollars. 

Eaikh&tu Khan of Persia was persuaded to attempt the introduction 



NOTICES OF THR lAND ROITTB TO CATHAT, ETC. 291 



CHAPTER n. 

Things needftil for meichaiits who desire to make the jonmey to Cathay 

above described. 

In the first place^ you must let your beard grow long and 
not shave. And at Tana you should furnish yourself with 
a dragoman. And you must not try to save money in the 
matter of dragomen by taking a bad one instead of a good 
one. For the additional wages of the good one will not cost 
you so much as you will save by having him.^ And besides 
the dragoman it will be well to take at least two good men 
servants^ who are acquainted with the Gumanian tongue. 
I And if the merchant hkes to take a woman with him from 
Tana^ he can do so ; if he does not like to take one there is 

of a paper onrreiu^ under the Chinese name (ehao) in 1294. After most 
expensive preparations in erecting offices in every province, etc., the 
scheme ntteriy faUed, the shops and markets of Tabriz were deserted, and 
the ehao had to be given np. Mahomed Tnghlak of Dehli fared no better 
in a somewhat similar project some thirty-five years Liter. In Japan 
bank-notes were introduced about 1319-1327, but in that country they 
always represented considerable sums. They continued to exist in the 
last centoiy, and perhaps do stiU. ' 

The notes of the Sung, Kin, and Mongol dynasties were aU made with 
the bark of the paper mulbeny. Those of the first two were only printed 
with characters and sealed ; the last were also ornamented. 

A note of the Ming dynasty is figured in Duhalde, ii, 168. It is for 1000^ 
cash, and bears the following inscription : " On the request of the Board \ 
of Treasurers, it is ordered that paper money thus impressed with the . ]^^^ V 
imperial seal have currency the same as copper money. Forgers shaU lose \ 
their heads, and informers shall receive a reward of 250 taeU, with the ) 
criminal's goods. In such a year and month of the reign of Hong-Yu." 
(Klaproth in Mem. Bel, d I'Asie, i, 375-388 ; Biot, in /. A,, ser. iii, tom. iv ; 
Parke$, in J. R. A, 8., xiii, 179; ITOhsaon, iv, 68; ElphinstoiM^s Hist, of 
India, ii, 62). Another and probably more exact account of the history of 
paper-money under the Mongols will be found in Pauthier's new Marco 
Ptdo, but time does not allow me to benefit by it. 

Begarding the haUth, see note to Odoric, p. 115. 

* The Italian here is very obscure and probably defective, but this 
seems the general sense ; or perhaps, "so much as the greed of the other 
will oaose you loss." 

19* 



s 



^' T 



292 NOTICES OP THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 

no obligation, only if he does take one lie will be kept 
\ much more comfortably than if he does not take one. 
C^"'.' Howbeit, if he do take one, it will be well that she be ac- 
quainted with the Cumanian tongue as well as the men.^ 

And from Tana travelling to Gittarchan you should take 
with you twenty-five days' provisions, that is to say, flour and 
salt fish, for as to meat you will find enough of it at all the 
places along the road. And so also at all the chief stations 
noted in going &om one country to another in the route, ac- 
cording to the number of days set down above, you should 
furnish yourself with flour and salt fish ; other things you 
will find in sufficiency, and especially meat. 

The road you travel from Tana to Cathay is perfectly safe, 
whether by day or by night, according to what the merchants 
say who have used it. Only if the merchant, in going or 
coming, should die upon the road, everything belonging to 
him will become the perquisite of the lord of the country in 
which he dies, and the officers of the lord will take possession 
of all.^ And in like manner if he die in Cathay. But if his 
brother be with him, or an intimate friend and comrade 
calling himself his brother, then to such an one they will 
surrender the property of the deceased, and so it will be 
rescued. 

And there is another danger : this is when the lord of the 
country dies, and before the new lord who is to have the 
lordship is proclaimed; during such intervals there have 
sometimes been irregularities practised on the Franks, and 
other foreigners. (They call Franks all the Christians of 
these parts &om Bomania westward).^ And neither will the 

1 The CnmaTiiaTi waa apparently a Tarkish dialect. 

3 This OQstom seems to have prevailed very generally (see Sto. Stephana 
in India in the F\fteenth Century, p. 7). It was also the law of Lesser 
Armenia unless a sabject of the kingdom was left heir (/. At., ser. ▼, torn, 
xviu, 346). 

* Somania means Greece, or nearly so. By Giov. da IJzzano the Morea 
and the isle of Scio are both spoken of as belonging to Bomania (pp. 89 



NOTICES OP THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 293 

roads be safe to travel until the other lord be proclaimed 
who is to reign in room of him who is deceased. 

Cathay is a province which contained a multitude of cities 
and towns. Among others there is one in particular, that 
is to say the capital city, to which is great resort of mer- 
chants, and in which there is a vast amount of trade ; and 
this city is called Cambalec. And the said city hath a circuit 
of one hundred miles, and is all full of people and houses and 
of dwellers in the said city. 

You may calculate that a merchant with a dragoman, and 
with two men servants, and with goods to the value of 
twenty-five thousand golden florins, should spend on his way 
to Cathay from sixty to eighty sommi of silver, and not more 
if he manage well; and for all the road back again from 
Cathay to Tana, including the expenses of living and the pay 
of servants, and all other charges, the cost will be about five 
aommi per head of pack animals, or something less. And you 
may reckon the som/mo to be worth five golden florins.^ You 
may reckon also that each ox-waggon will require one ox, 
and will carry ten cantars Genoese weight ; and the camel- 
waggon wiU require three camels, and will carry thirty cantars 
Genoese weight; and the horse-waggon will require one 
horse, and will commonly carry six and half cantars of silk, 
at 250 Genoese pounds to the cantar. And a bale^ of silk 
may be reckoned at between 110 and 115 Genoese pounds. 

and 160). And the expression in the text (tutii % Christiani delle parti 
di Bomania innanzi in verso il ponente) seems to include Bomania. Yet 
I do not think the Greeks were or are regarded as Franks. 

^ Taking the gold florin or ducat at 9s. 6d., the valne of the goods will 
be nearly jei2,000 and the cost of the merchant's journey from jei40 to 
jei90 going, and nearly jei2 a head on his beasts coming back. 

* ScibeUo. I cannot trace this word in any dictionary, but it looks like 
Arabic. The nearest thing I can find is sibt — ^hides of ox leather {Frey^ 
lag). It is possible that the silk may have been packed in such. From 
India and China now it is generally packed in mats. Pegolotti writes it 
in another place in the plural ieeibeUi, vnthfardelli as synonymous (p. 131). 
The Genoese pound of twelve ounces was equal to about f of the London 
pound (\^), as we learn from Pegolotti in another part of his book. 



294 NOTICES OF THE LAKB BOUTB TO CATHAT^ ETC. 

Yon maj reckon also that from Tana to Sara the road is 
less safe than on any other part of the jonmey ; and yet even 
when this part of the road is at its worst, if yon are some 
sixty men in the company you will go as safely as if you were 
in your own house. 

Anyone from Genoa or from Yenicej wishing to go to the 
places above-named, and to make the journey to Cathay, 
should cany linens^ with him, and if he visit Organci he will 
dispose of these well. In Organci he should purchase sonimi 
of silver, and with these he should proceed vnithout making 
any further investment, unless it be some bales of the very 
finest stufis which go in small bulk, and cost no more for 
carriage than coarser stufis would do. 

Merchants who travel this road can ride on horseback 
or on asses, or mounted in any way that they list to be 
mounted. 

Whatever silver the merchants may cany with them as far 
as Cathay the lord of Cathay will take from them and put 
into his treasuiy. And to merchants who thus bring silver 
they give that paper money of theirs in exchange. This is 
of yellow paper, stamped vnith the seal of the lord aforesaid. 
And this money is called balishi ;^ and with this money you 
can readily buy silk and all other merchandize that you have 
a desire to buy. And all the people of the country are 
bound to receive it. And yet you shall not pay a higher 
price for your goods because your money is of paper. And 
of the said paper money there are three kinds, one being 
worth more than another, according to the value which has 
been established for each by that lord.^ 

And you may reckon that you can buy for one sommo of 
silver nineteen or twenty pounds of Cathay silk, when re- 

> TeU. 

' The Biooardian MS. has here paOaci, as in the previooB chapter 
bdbisci. No doubt in both places the original had baluei. 

> This seems to aUude to three cZofaei of notes, as in Knblai's iasae of 
1260 mentioned above. 



MOnCSS OF THE LAND BOUTB TO CATHAT^ ETC. 295 

daced to Genoese weighty and that the sommo should weigh 
eight and a half ounces of Genoa> and should be of the alloy 
of eleven ounces and seventeen deniers to the pound.^ 

You may reckon also that in Cathay you should get three 
or three and a half pieces of damasked silk^ for a sommo ; 
and from three and a half to five pieces of nacchetti^ of silk 
and gold^ likewise for a sommo of silver. 

I Le,, 7 pennyweighta of alloy to 11 os. 17 dwts. of pore ailver. Gioy. 
da TJzzaao in the next centniy speaks of the sommi from Caffib as being 
of both gold and silver, the alloy of the latter being 11 oz. 18 to 16 dwt. 
(p. 188). 

- The word is cammocca. This the dictionaries generally are good 
enough to teU ns means " a kind of doth." Mr. Wright on Mandeville 
says it is " a rich doth of silk mentioned not unfrequently in medieval 
writers," bat this is still vexy unpredse. I had airived at the oondnsion 
that it must be damatiked siXk, and I now find this confirmed by Ducange 
{Glots. OracitatiM, etc.) : " nofiowx^'* Pctwnus aerieus mare damascene eon^ 
feehu" Moreover the word is almost certainly the Arabic \j^ kimJchwd, 

" Vestis scutulata Damascena" (Freyiag). I suppose that the hifikhwdb 
of Hindustan, now applied to a gdd brocade, is the same word or a deri- 
vative. 

> In a later chapter describing the trade at Constantinople, our author 
details "silk velvets, eommueea, maramaH, gold doth of every kind, 
nacchetti and naeehi of every kind, and likewise all doths of gold and silk 
except wendadi (gauzes)." The naeehi and nacchetti appear to have been 
doths of silk and gold. The former (naJth) is so explained by Ibn Batuta, 
who names it several times. It was made, he teUs us, at Nisabur in 
Khorassan, and in describing the dress of the princess of Constantinople 
he says she had on " a mantle of the stuff called ndkh, and also natij," 
These two, however, were apparently not identical, but corresponded pro- 
bably to the naeehi and nacchetti of Pegolotti. For Polo in the Bamusian 
version has " panni d'oro natiii (natici f) fin, e nach, e panni di seta." And 
in the old version printed in Baldelli Boni's first volume this runs "nasicei, 
drappi dorati;" whilst Bubruquis mentions ntuie as a present given him 
by Mangu Khan. I know not what maramati is, unless it should rather 
be maramdU for makhnud, velvet. {Ibn Batuta, ii, 309, 388, 422; iii, 81 ; 
Polo in Bamus., pt. i, c. 53; II MiUone, i, 67; Bub,, p. 317.) 



296 NoncEB or thb land itours to cathat, etc.] 

CHAPTER m. 

Comparison of the weights and measures of Cathay and of Tana. 



The mannd^ of Sara = in 


Genoa 


weight 


lbs. 

6 


OE. 

2 


»» 


Organci 


>} 


99 


3 


9 


» 


Oltrarre 


» 


99 


8 


9 


» 


ArmaleG 


» 


99 


2 


8 


i> 


Oamexu 


»i 


99 


2 






Tana on the Black Sea, 

At Tana^ as shall next be shown^ they use a variety of 
weights and measures, viz. : 

The caviar, which is that of G^noa. 

The great pound^ = 20 lbs. Genoese. 

The ruotolo,^ of which 20 = 1 great ponnd. 

The little pound, which is the Genoese pound. 

The tochetto, of which 12 = 1 great pound. 

The saggio, of which 46 = 1 sommo. 

The picco} 

Wax, ladanum/ iron, tin, copper, pepper, ginger, all coarser 

^ If ena, representing the Arabic man, I suppose from Greek and Lat. 
mtna, difftised over all the East with an infinite variety of values from 
below two pounds up to one hundred pounds. We have Anglicized it in 
India into maund. The man of Ghazan Khan, which may be meant here, 
was of 260 drachms. 

^ This should be equal to thirty, not twenty, Genoese pounds, as is 
shown by passages at pp. 81, 87, of Pegolotti. Is this greaJt j^ound the 
origin of the Bussian pood f 

* The eanlaro and ruotolo both survive in Southern Italy and Sicily, 
the former derived from the kantdr and the latter from the Hihl of the 
Arabs, though the first of these words, and perhaps both, must have come 
to the Arabic from the Latin. 

* The pih is still the common cloth measure in the Levant. It seems 
generally to be about twenty-eight inches.- 

^ Ladanum or Idbdaawim (the Iddin of the Arabs), is a gum resin derived 
frt>m the Oistus creHeus, which grows in the Islands of the Levant. It is 
exported in solid pieces of cylindrical and other forms. A long descrip- 
tion of the mode of collecting it, etc., wiU be found in Toume/ort, Voyage 
dvk Levant, i, 84, et seq. According to Herodotus ladanum was derived 
"from a most inodorous place/' viz., the beards of he-goats, which collected 
it from the bushes in browsing {Bawlinson*» Herod,, bk. iii, 113). 



NOTICES OP THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 297 

spices, cotton, madder, and suet, cheese, flax, and oil, honey, 
and the like, sell by the great pound. 

Silk, safiron, amber wrought in rosaries and the like, and 
all small spices sell by the little pound. 

Vair-skins by the 1000 ; and 1020 go to the 1000. 

Ermines by the 1000 ; 1000 to the 1000. 

Foxes, sables, fitches and martens, wolfskins, deerskins, 
and all cloths of silk or gold, by the piece. 

Common stufis, and canvasses of every kind sell by the 
picco. 

Tails are sold by the bundle at twenty to the bundle. 

Oxhides by the hundred in tale, giving a hundred and no 
more. 

Horse and pony hides by the piece. 

Gold and pearls are sold by the saggio} Wheat and all 
other com and pulse is sold at Tana by a measure which 
they call cascito? Greek wine and all Latin wines are sold 
by the cask as they come. Malmsey and wines of Triglia 
and Candia are sold by the measure. 

Caviar is sold by the fascOy and a fusco is the tail-half of 
the fish's skin, full of fish's roe.' 

1 The saggio in Italy was ^ of a pound, t. e., ^ of an ounce (Pegol. p. 
31). Here it was a little more, as may be deduced from its relation to 
the sommo opposite. 

3 Ccueito must hare been miswritten for caji^. There is a measure 
called kc^» in Arabic, and specified as cafizium in some of the treaties 
(Not, et Ext., xi, 30). Hammer-Pnrgstall mentions kofeiz as a standard 
measure at Tabriz, which is doubtless the same (Oesch, der Oolden Horde, 
etc., p. 225). And Pegolotti himself has eafisao as a Moorish measure. 
Indeed, I need not have sought this word so far away. It is still used in 
Sicily as Cafisu for an oil measure, the fifth part of a Cantaro, It also 
exists in Spanish as Cahin, and will be found in Ducange in a variety of 
forms, CaffiMm, CafiHum, Cafiaa, Cappitius, etc. 

3 Caviare is now exported in small kegs. Fuaco is perhaps just >S«^. In 
the dialect of the Goths of the Crimea that word was fiaet according to 
Busbeck. The sturgeon of the Borysthenes are already mentioned by 
Herodotus as large fish without prickly bones, called antaccsi, good for 
pickling, and according to Professor Bawlinson caviare also was known 
to the Greeks as rdpixo^ Arraira«or. 



298 NOTICES OF THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Charges on mercliaiidize which are paid at Tana on things enlering the 
city, nothing being paid on going forth thereof. 

Gold, silver, and pearls at Tana pay neither comerchio nor 
tamunga, nor any other duties. 

On wine, and ox-hides, and tails, and horse-bides, the 
Genoese and Venetians pay four per cent., and all other 
people five per cent. 

What 18 paid for the transit of merchandize at Tana, 

Silk 15 aspers per pound. 

All other things, at . . . aspers for 3 cantars. 

At Tana the money current is of somyni and aspers of 
silver. The sommo weighs 45 saggi of Tana, and is of the 
alloy of 11 oz. 17 dwt. of fine silver to the pound. And if 
silver be sent to the Tana mint, they coin 202 aspers from 
the sonimo^ but they pay you only 190, retaining the rest 
for the work of the mint and its profit. So a sommo at 
Tana is reckoned to be 190 aspers. And the sommi are 
ingots of silver of the alloy before mentioned, which are 
paid away by weight. But they do not all weigh the same, 
so the ingots are weighed at the time of payment, and if the 
weight is less than it ought to be the balance is paid in 
aspers, to make up every sommo to the value of 45 saggi of 
Tana weight. 

And there are also current at Tana copper coins called 
foll'Cri, of which sixteen go to the asper. But the folleri 
are not used in mercantile transactions, but only in the pur- 
chase of vegetables and such small matters for town use.* 

Chapter v gives details as to the relation of the Tana weights 

■ The asper mnet therefore have contained silver to the amount of 
about Os. 2.8d. 
^ Follero is the Byzantine copper Follis, and perhaps Pci-sian pul. 



NOTICES OV THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAT^ ETC. 299 

and measuTes to those of Venice, etc. ; as to the weights and 
measures of Cafia ; and as to those of Tabriz (Torieei di Pereia), 
The duties\t Tabriz are called Cam/unoca. 



CHAPTER VI. 



On the ezpenaee which usually attend the transport of merchandize 
from Ajaczo of Erminia to Torissi^ by land. 

In the first place from Aiazzo as far as Colidaba^^ i.e.^ as 
far as the King of Armenia's territory extends^ you pay 
altogether 41 taccolini and 3^ deniers (at the rate of 10 
deniers to the taccolino) on every load^ whether of camels 
or of other beasts. Now taking the taccolino to be about 
an asper^ the amount will be about 41 aspers of Tauris per 
load. And 6 aspers of Tauris are equal to one Tauris bezant. 



At Gandon, where yon enter upon the lands of Bonsaetj 

i.e. of the lord of the Tartars,^ on eveiy load 
At the same place, for watching, ditto 

At Gassna .... 
At the Garayanserai of the Admibal' 
At Gadue .... 
At the Caravanserai of Casa Jacomi 
At the entrance to Salvastro^ from Aiazzo 
Inside the city 
Leaving the city on the road to Tanris 

AtDlTDRUGA," 



20 aspers. 
8 
7 
3 
3 
3 
1 
7 
1 
3 



19 
>» 
9i 

n 

9) 
99 
99 
>9 
99 



> Bespeoting Aiazzo see note, p. 278 tupra. CoUdara should perhaps be 
Oobidar, the name of an Armenian fortress and barony in Taurus, whioh 
is mentioned in Joum. As., ser. y, vol. xviii, 314. 

* Boiuael is Aba Said Bahadar Khan, the last effectiTe sorereign of the 
Mongol dynasty in Persia, who died 1835. He is called Bosaid by some 
Arabic writers, and on some Mongol coins. The Pope in addressing him 
calls him Boyssethan, i.e. Bosaid Khan (I/Ohason, iv, 716; Mosheim, 144). 

> Oavazera del Ammiraglxo, 1 suppose Kartodn$arai-uUAm<r, The same 
word is used at each place rendered caravanserai. 

' Sebaste, now Siwas. 

' The proper reading is probably Duvriaga, viz., Divrik or T^^pputti, a 
place still existing between Sivas and Eningan. 



300 NOTICES OF THS LAND ROUTE TO CATHAT^ ETC. 



At Gbeboco .... 

At MUGHISAB 

At ditto, as tantavJlaggio^ for the watch 
At Arzinoa,^ at entrance to the town 

Ditto, inside the city . 

Ditto, for the watchmen, on leaving 
At the Caravanserai on the Hill 

AtLlGURTI .... 

At ditto, at the bridge, for tantatdlagio 
At the Caravanserai ontside Abzebone^ 
At Arzerone, at the Baths* . 
Ditto, inside the city 

Ditto, as a present to the lord 

Ditto, at the Baths towards Tanris* 

At POLORBECH 

At ditto . . 

At Sermessacalo' for ta/ntauUaggio . 

At Aggia, for the whole journey 

At the middle of the plain of Aggia, for duty 

At ditto for taiit 

At Calacresti,' ditto 



4 aspers. 

2i 

Oi 
5 

9 

3 

3 

2 

2 
1 
9 
2 
i 
3 
0| 



0| 



^ This was probably written TaneauUaggio, The TangauU were goards 
or patrols upon the roads in Persia. , An edict of Ghasan Khan, cited by 
D'Ohsson, illustrates these charges. He denounces the Tangauls for 
their exactions from travellers, and aathorises them to take a fee of half 
an akehi and no more, for every two camels or four mules loaded. (The 
akche was, I presume, the same as the asper, for it is named from dk, 
white, as the asper ftom icwpop, white). At every station of TangauU 
there was to be a stone pillar indicating their number, the duties of their 
chief, and the tees due. (lyOhsion, iv, 471-2.) Fegolotti, in his prefii- 
tory glossary, says Tantaullo in Tartaresque is applied " to people who 
act as guards of places and of roads for gentlemen and others," p. zzilL 

' Erzingan of our maps. 

> Erzrum. 

< In connexion with these baths at the entrance and exit from the city 
we read that Ghazan Khan, in building New Tabriz, caused to be erected 
at each gate of the city a g^reat caravanserai, a market, a set of baths, so 
that the merchants, frx>m whatever quarter they came, found a serai and 
baths acyoining the custom-house where their wares were examined 
(D'0^«on,iv,276). 

^ I have no doubt that this is the Sarbisacalo of Odoric ; see note at 
p. 47. 

< Probably the place called KarakaUsa (the Black Church). 



V; 






• • 



NOTICES OP THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 301 



At the Three Churches,^ for tant. . 
Under Noah's Ark,* for duty 
Ditto ditto for tant. 

At SCARACANTI, ditto 

At LoccHE, ditto 

At the plain of the Falconers, ditto (twice altogether) 

At the said plain, for a ticket or permit from the lord 

At the Camuzoni, for tant. 

At the Plains of the Bed Biyer,^ for tant. 

At CoKDRO, for tant. 

At Sandoddi, ditto . 

At Taurts, ditto . 



0^ aspers. 

3 

0^ 

0| 

0| 

1 

0| 
Oh 

01 
01 
01 



And you may reckon that the exactions of the Moccols or 
Tartar troopers along the road, will amount to something 
like fifty aspers a load. So that the cost on account of a 
load of merchandize going by land from Aiazzo of Armenia 
to Tauris in Cataria(?)* will be, as appears by the above 
details, 209 aspers a load, and the same back agarn.^ 

1 I preBome that thiB route from Erzrom to Tabriz follows the old 
Genoese line between Trebizond and Tabriz, which passed to the aouth 
of Ararat. The Three Chwrchea are not therefore those of Echmiazin, bat 
the UehkiUsi of the maps in the position just mentioned. 

< " Sotto Larcanoe !" Probably at Bayazid. 

* The Bed River (Fiume Bosso) is mentioned in this position by the Pala- 
tine version of Odoric also. There is no Bed Biver here, so named, but 
no donbt what is meant is the Araxes, or Ards, called by Edrisi Al Bis, a 
name sore to be Italianized into Bosso. 

< Tartaria? 

^ It is really 203 aspers (about £2:8: 0). Apparently he has added in 
the 6 aspers named at the end of the first paragraph. 



302 K0TICE8 OF THB UKD SOCTB TO CATHAT, BTC. 



CHAPTER Vn. 

Detail ahowing how all goods are sold and bought at Cozutantinople and 
in Pera, and of the ezpenses incurred by traders; but especially as 
regards Pera, because most of the business is done there^ where the 
merchants are more constantly to be found. For the rest of Con- 
stantinople belongs to the Greeks, but Pera to the Franks, i.e., to 
the Genoese. And from Constantinople to Pera» 'tis fire miles by 
land, but half a mile by water. 

This is one of the longest chapters in the book, and embraces 
nnmerons particulars as to the customs of trade; as of tare, 
damage, garbling, samples, etc. We shall give some extracts. 

Goods are sold at Constantinople in varions ways. 

Tbe indigo called Baccadeo is (sold in packages) of a certaiii 
weighty and tbe weight you must know should be the cantar. 
And if the buyer chooses to take it from the seller without 
weighing it^ be it more or less than a cantar^ 'tis to the profit 
or loss of the buyer. But they do almost always weigh it, and 
then payment is made according to the exact weight, be it 
more or less than a cantar. And the skin and wrapper are 
given with it but no tare is deducted ; nor is garbling al- 
lowed j nor do they allow the indigo to be examined except 
by a little hole, from which a small sample may be ex- 
tracted. For such is use and wont in those parts. 

The following are sold by the cantar (of 150 Genoese lbs.) 

Wormwood; madder, and the bag goes as madder with- 
out any allowance for tare. Alum of every kind, and even 
if it be Boch-alum, the sack and cord go as alum. 

The following also are sold by the cantar at Constantinople 

and in Pera. 



Horse hides 
Ox hides 
Buffalo hides 



^In purchasing these they are shown to the 
provers up the hiU, i.e. in Pera ; and if the 
hides smell damp or wet, then a fit allow- 
ance is made, and this is the system in 






K0TICB8 OF THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAT^ ETC. 303 

Pera and in Constantinople^ and they are not pnt in the snn 
unless they are exceedingly wet indeed. 

Suet in jars ;^ iron of every kind ; tin' of every kind : lead 
of every kind. Zibib»^ or raisins of eveiy kind, and the mats 
go as raisins, with no allowance for tare unless they be 
raisins of Syria. In that case the baskets or hampers are 
allowed for as tare, and remain with the buyer into the 
bargain. 

Soap of Venice, soap of Ancona, and soap of Apulia in 
wooden cases. They make tare of the cases, and then these 
go to the buyer for nothing. But the soap of Cyprus and 
of Rhodes is in sacks, and the sacks go as soap with no 
tare allowance. 

Broken almonds in bags ; the bag goes as almonds ; only 
if there be more than one sack and cord it must be re- 
moved, or deducted, so that the buyer shall not have to 
takp more than one sack and cord as almonds, but for any 
beyond that there shall be tare allowed ; and the cord shall 
go to the buyer gratis. 

Honey in kegs or skins ; tare is allowed for the keg or 
skin, but it remains with the buyer gratis. 

Cotton wool ;^ and the sack goes as cotton without tare. 
Cotton yam ; and the sack is allowed as tare, and remains 
with the buyer for nothing. 

Rice ; and the bag goes as rice, but if it be tied the cord 
is allowed as tare and remains with the seller. Turkey 
galls of every kind ; and if they are in bags you weigh 
bag and all, and do not make tare of the bag. Dried figs 

1 "Swo in parxocie;" the latter word is to be found in no dictionazy. 
But in a grant of trading priyileges to the Genoese from Leon III, King 
of Armenia* we find *' Vinwn pottit rendere in v^eHa vel in parge." And 
on this St. Martin observes, "This is the common Armenian word 
p'harteh, signifying a jar" (NoHee$ et EztrwUs, xi. 114). I have little 
doubt that this is the word represented by partoeie. 

' Arab, nbib ; the word is still in Italian use. 

3 « CoiwM mapfulo" 



304 N0TICB8 OP THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 

of Majorca and Spain in hampers. Orpiment, and the bag 
goes as orpiment. Safflower/ and yon make tare of bag 
and cord, and after that they remain with the buyer gratis. 

Henna ;^ and the bag goes as henna, only a tare of four 
per cent, is allowed by custom of trade. Cummin ; and the 
bag goes as cummin, and if tied with rope the rope is al- 
lowed as tare but remains with the buyer gratis. 

Pistachios ;' and the bag goes with them with no allow- 
ance for tare, unless there be more bags than one, and if 
there* be, then the excess is weighed and allowed as tare, 
and the buyer has the one bag gratis. 

Sulphur ; and the bag or barrel in which it is, is allowed as 
tare, and goes to the buyer gratis. Senna ; and the bag is 
tare and goes to the buyer. Pitch ; and the mat is allowed 
for as tare, and goes to the buyer. Morda sangue ;^ the bag 
goes with it and no tare allowed. 

The following are sold in the same way (but the particulars aa 
to customs of sale, etc., are omitted). 

Saltmeat ; cheese ; flax of Alexandria and of Romania ; 
Camlet wool ; washed wool of Romania ; unwashed ditto ; 
washed or unwashed wool of Turkey ; chesnuts. 

I Here the word is Asfrole, the identity of which with saffiower will 
I)erhapB be doubted. But at p. 373, where he makes the word affiore, 
the description of the article and the waj to judge of qualities appear 
to point to safflower. In other passages he has <uiifore, tutujjH, but 
also Moffole (di Valenza) uagiore, zafflore (pp. 64, 295, 211, 113, 134, 
137). 

' "Alcana" the Cyprus of the Greeks, the Phylleria or Mock-privet of 
Gerarde, now caUed Latoaonia Inermis, used by Eastern women to tinge 
the nails, by men in dyeing the beard, etc. 

* Fittuchi, Though I do not find this form in any Italian dictionazy, 
MaeeuUoeh's Commercial Diet, mentions Fasiucehi as an Italian form of 
Pittaechi, and I have no doubt this is the word. For the Arabs call 
pistachioes FuMk and the Turks, Fistik, The Persian is Pittah with no 
k, so that the word probably was first introduced in the Arabic form. I 
find Gerarde calls pistachioes Fiatick-NuU, 

* This perplexing word must be the Persian Murddh-tang, " Litharge." 
Bums however renders Moordar-iutig (as he spells it) "sulphate of copper" 
(Travel*, iii, 207). 



NOTICES OP THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 305 

The following are sold by the hundredAveight of 100 Oetioese 

pounds (details omitted), 

Roond pepper; ginger ; barked brazil-wood; lac; zedoary;^ 
incense; sugar, and powdered sugar of all kinds; aloes 
of all kinds; quicksilver; cassia fistula; sal ammoniac or 
Useiadro ; cinnabar ; cinnamon ; galbanum ;^ ladanum of 
Cyprus ; mastic ; copper ; amber, big, middling, and small, 
not wrought ; stript coral ; clean and fine coral, middling 
and small. 

The following are sold by the pound. 

Baw silk ; saffron ; ulove-stalks^ and . cloves ; cubebs ; 
lign-aloes ; rhubarb ; mace ; long pepper ; galangal ;^ broken 
camphor ; nutmegs ; spike ;^ cardamoms ; scammony ; 
pounding pearls;^ manna; borax; gum Arabic; dragon's 

> Zettoara, This is a drag now almost disused ; the root of a plant 
which used to be exported from Malabar^ Ceylon, Cochin China, etc. 
{McteeuUoch.) 

* A gnm-resin derived from a perennial plant (<?. officinale) growing in 
Syria, Persia, the Cape of Good Hope, etc. It is imported into England 
from the Levant chiefly. (Mciceulloeh.) 

3 FusH di Gherofani. These, when good, are said elsewhere by Fego- 
lotti to be worth one-third the price of good oloves. The phrase appears 
often in XJzsano's book, as well as Fiari and Foglia di Oherofomi, Garzia, 
quoted by Mattioli on Dioscorides, says the atalkt of the cloves are called 
Fusti. But old Gerarde says " That g^rosse kinde of cloves which hath 
been supposed to be the male, are nothing else than fruit of the same 
tree tarrying there untill it fall down of itselfe unto the grounde, where 
by reason of his long lying and meeting with some raine in the mean 
season, it loseth the quick taste that the others have. Some have called 
those FtuH, whereof we may English them FasMes." Pegolotti has also 
(p. 809) Fittuehi di Oherofani, but these seem to have been clove twigs, 
which were formerly imported along with cloves, and which Budaeus in 
a note on Theophrastus considers to have been the einnamomum of the 
ancients. (See a passage in Ibn Batuta, infra; Oerarde*a Eerhall, 1535 ; 
MaUioU, 854; Budaeut on Theophrastut, 992-8). 

^ Ghilanga, a root imported from India and China, of aromatic smell 
and hot unpleasant taste. (Maeeulloeh,) 

' Spigo ; the spike lavender from which this was made was called Italian 
Nard, Maisden supposes the spigo of M. Polo to be spikenard. 

* PerU da Pestare, mentioned also by G. da Uzzano ; I suppose for use 
in medicine. Mattioli quotes from Avicenna and others that pearls were 

20 



306 NOTICES OP THE LAND BOUTS TO CATHAY, ETC. 

blood ; earners hay ;^ turbit ^ silk-gauze ; sweetmeats ; gold 
wire ; dressed silk ; wrought amber in beads, etc. 

Sold in half iicores of pieces. 
Buckrams of Erzingan and Cyprus. 

By the i^iece. 
Silk velvets ; damasks ; maramati ; gold cloth of every 
kind ; nachetti and nacchi of every kind ; and all cloths of 
silk and gold except gauzes.' 

Sold by the hvndred piks of Oazarm,^ 
Common stuffs . and canvasses of all kinds, except those 
of Champagne; also French and North-country broad cloths. 

Then follow details of the different kinds of cloths, with the 
length of the pieces. And then a detail of special modes of 
selling certain wares, such as : 

Undressed vairs, and vair bellies and backs ; Slavonian 
squirrels ; martins and fitches ; goat skins and ram skins ; 
dates, filberts, walnuts ; salted sturgeon tails ; salt ; oil of 
Venice ; oil of the March ; oil of Apulia, of Gaeta, etc. ; 
wheat and barley ; wine of Greece, of Turpia in Calabria,^ 
of Patti in Sicily, of Patti in Apulia,* of Cutrone in Cala- 
bria,"' of the March, of Crete, of Romania ; country wine. 

good in palpitationa and watery eyes ; bat not ae if th^ were used in his 
own time. 

^ iSfuinamii/ the ^oSawt of the Greek herbalists, or Juneut Odoroiwj. 
The name in the text is that used ( and perhaps invented) by Qerazde. 

' The cortical part of the root of a species of convolvulus from various 
parts of the East Indies. Like other drugs named here, it is but little 
need in medicine now-a-days. 

^ On the words in this passage see note, p. 2d5 supra. 

* Gazaria, the country embracing the Sea of Azov and the Crimea, in 
which were the Frank factories of Tana, Caffa, Soldaia, etc. ; so named 
from the ancient tribes of the Khosars or Chasars. 

' Tropea, on the west coast of Calabria. 

« Patti in Sicily is a small cathedral town west of Milazzo. The other 
I cannot indicate. 

7 Cotrone, the amdent Crotona, on the east coast of Calabria. 



NOTICES OF THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 307 

Then follow details on the money in use, on the duties 
levied, — 

(And don't forget that if you treat the custom-house 
officers with respect^ and make them something of a present 
in goods or money, as well as their clerks and dragomen, 
they wiU behaye with great oiviUty, and always be ready to 
appraise your wares below their real valueO 

— On the preferential prices given for certain kinds of goods; 
as to the fees paid for weighing, garbling, brokerage, packing, 
warehousing, and the like ; with details of the relation of the 
weights and measures to those of most European countries. 

This may serve as a sample of the average contents of the book. 

Chap, xxix treats of how various kinds of goods are packed, etc. 

Chap, xxx is on shipment and matters connected therewith. 

Chap, xxxv is on assays of gold and silver. 

Chap, lxii is on London in England in itself; but it does not 
contain anything of interest for extract. The chief idea con- 
nected with England in Pegolotti's mind appears to have been 
wool.^ 

Chap, lxiii gives a detail of the " Houses (Religious) in Scot- 
land, in England,^ that have wool. 

The list is very curious. It embraces : 

Niobottoli,* Mirososso,* Barmunacche,^ Chupero,® Chilo- 
sola,^ Donfermellino,® Dondamane,® Grenelusso,^® Balledi- 
mcco(?), Guldingamo,^^ Ghelz^^^ Norbonucche,^* Sansa- 
sano(?)/* Grideghorda(?). 

^ Woollen cloth was one of the staples of Florentine commerce. In 1838 
theie were 200 hoUeghe, producing doth to the value of 1^200,000 uecchins, 
and supporting 30,000 persons (Delia Decima, iv, p. 24). 

* " Magioni di SeoMia di Inghilterra" 

3 Newbattle. * Melrose ? or perhaps " Mary's House." 

5 Pagnini has Barmieciacche, but the above is firom the MS. Bal- 

merynac or Balmannac is the old name of the Abbey of Baimerino in 

Fifeshire. 

* Cupar. 7 Eilloss or Kynloss in Moray. ^ DnnfermUne. 

* Dundrennan. ^ Glenlace. " Coldingham. " Kelso. 
» North Berwick ? 

14 This seems like St. Sosan's, bnt I can trace no such Scotch abbey. 

20 2 



308 NOTICES OF THE LAND ROUTE TO CATHAY, ETC. 

Bnt he Boon passes firom Scotland to England, for the follow* 
ing HouBes of the Cistercian Order oertainlj belong to the sonth : 

Olcholtam,^ Nieomostriere^ in Orto Bellanda, Fomace in 
Orto Bellanda/ Galderea in Goppolanda/ Salleo in Cra- 
venna,^ Giervalese/ Fontana,^ Biolanda,^ Biyalse,* Miesa in 
Oldaraese,^^ Chirchestallo/^ Laroocia," II Parco di Livia,^' 
Chiricistede/* Bevesbi," Svinsivede,^* Lavaldeo/^ RnSbrte 
in Estierenda/^ Gierondona.^' 

The chapter contains many more pnzzles of the same kind. Bnt 
our extracts have wandered far from Cathay or the road thither, 
and must stop. 

1 Holm Caltram Abbey in Camberland. 

« " NewminBter/' near Morpeth, in " Northumberland." 

3 «< Fameas in Northumberland," in which it is not. 

* " Calder Abbey id Cumberland" (and this ahows that the English- 
man slurred his B's already). 

A " SawUy Abbey in Craven." < Jorvaulz. ^ Fountains. 

* Byland. * Probably should be RivdUe, Bivaulx. 

» " Meauz Abbey in Holdemess." " EirkstaU. » Boche Abbey. 
» Probably Louth Park, caUed " de Pareo lude." >« Eirkstead. 

(^ Bevesby Abbey in Linoolnshire. '* Swineshead. 

17 The Abbey of Vaudey or " de Valle Dei" in Lincolnshire. 
" Bufford or Bumford Abbey in Nottinghamshire. 
>* Gerondon or GMraldon Abbey in Leicestershire. For these abbeys 
(which are all Cistercian) see Tawner'i NoHHa Moruutica, 



V. 



MARIGNOLLl'S RECOLLECTIONS OF 

EASTERN TRAVEL. 



V. 

JOHN DE' MARIGNOLLI AND HIS RECOLLECTIONS 

OF EASTERN TRAVEL. 



BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 

These notices of Eastern Travel are found, Hke unexpected fos« 
sils in a mud-bank, imbedded in a Chronicle of Bohemia, which 
was first printed from an old MS. in the latter half of the. last 
century. Of the author there is not very much to be learned, 
except what can be gathered from these reminiscences of his. 
John of Florence, a Minorite, is known to the ecclesiastical bio- 
graphers as the author of sundry theological works, and as Bishop 
of Bisignano. And a John of Florence, a Minorite, is also known, 
through brief notices in the Annals of Raynaldus and Wadding, 
as having gone on a mission to Cathay. But till the publication 
of the Bohemian Chronicle the identity of these Johns does not 
seem to have been suspected, and even since the date of that 
publication they have been carefully discriminated by a very 
learned Franciscan.^ 

The two Johns were, however, one. He was a native of 
Florence or its neighbourhood, and came of the MarignoUi of 
San Lorenzo, a noble &mily of the Republic which derived its 
name from a village called Marignolle, in the Valley of the Amo, 
about two miles south-west of the city. The family of the 

' See Supplemeniwn ei Casiigatio <id Scriptores Trium Ordinum S. Fran- 

ciaoi a Waddingo, &c,, opus posthumum Pr. Jo, Hyticinthi 8harale4B, Bonue, 

1806, p. 436. Another John of Florence, also connected with the Eastern 

missions of the fourteenth centnry, is mentioned by Qu^tif ; but be was a 

'Dominican, and bishop of Tiflis in Georgia (Script. Ord. Prcedicat/p. 583). 



1 



312 MABIOKOLLI^S RECOLLECTIONS OF EASTERN TRAVEL. 

MarignoUi was, in the middle ages, one of the most inflnential in 
Florence, and its members were generally leaders in the Guelf 
faction. They were expelled from the Republic on the defeat of 
that party at Montaperti in 1260,^ 



" Lo strazio e'l g^nde scempio 
TArbia colorata in roeso, 



Che fGoe 

but after a few years effected their return, and long continued to 
give many gonfaloniers and other magistrates to the city. In 
the seventeenth century, however, they were already quite ex- 
tinct. A street in Florence near the cathedral, now called Via 
de' Cerretani, is still marked as having formerly borne their name 
(Oid de* Marignolli),^ 

The date of John's birth is not known. But it maybe guessed 
from the wandering garrulity of his recollections, that he was 
an aged man, when, some time about 1355, he put them on 
paper; and this is confirmed by a circumstance which will be 
cited below. He was therefore bom, in all probability, before 
1290. 

He was a member of the Franciscan monastery of Santa Croce 
in Florence, to which he apparently refers in his story, when he 
tells us that on his return from the East he deposited a certain 
Indian garment in the sacristy of the Minorites in that city. 

He is known for certain as the author of two works in Tuscan: 
one a History of 8t, Onufrio ; the other a work called The Acts of 
the Apostles J whether a translation of Scripture or a collection of 
legends, I do not know. Both are said to be cited as authorities 
in Italian by the Delia Crusca vocabulary. But he is also sup- 
posed to have been the John of Florence who wrote a History of 
his Order, and a treatise on the Canonization of St. Francis, 
works which formerly existed in the Hbrary of Santa Croce.« 
Sbaralea also regards as probably written by MarignoUi a small 
Italian work on The Flowers of St, Francis, which was printed by 

* O. VUlani, Uioria Fioreniina, book v, c. 79, 80. 

^ The last faot ia from personal observation. Others in this paragraph 
are partly from Italia Sacra of Ughelli (Venice, 1717, i, 522), and partly 
from a respectable Tuscan authority the reference to which I have 
omitted to note. 

^ Sbaralea, u.s. 



BIOOBAPHICAL AND INTBODUCTOBT NOTICES. 313 

Nicolas Girardengo at Venice in 1480, and often reprinted ; and 
also a Life of St. John Baptist, which is appended to the former 
in the MS. at Bologna. 

Marignolli refers in his recollections to having at one time 
given lectures at Bologna.^ And this is all that I can collect 
abont him previous to his mission to the East. 

John of Monte Corvino, the venerable Archbishop of Cam*- 
balec, died as we have already seen about 1828, and the sue* 
cessor appointed by Pope John in 1333 seems never to have 
reached his destination.^ 

In 1338 however there arrived at Avignon an embassy from 
the Gb-eat Khan of Cathay, consisting of Andrew a Frank, and 
fifteen other persons. They brought two letters to the pope: 
one purporting to be from the Grand Khan himself, and the 
other from certain princes of the Christian Alans in his service. 

It is not stated that Andrew was an ecclesiastic ; but it is pos- 
sible that he may have been our acquaintance the Bishop of 
Zayton.* 

D*Ohs6on^ regards the whole matter as an example of the sham 
embassies which on several occasions were palmed off on the 
European courts as coming from the Mongol princes. But he 
is apparently not aware of Marignolli's narrative of the return 
mission and its reception. And the Elian's letter looks very 
genuine in its haughty curtness and absence of swelling titles, the 
use of which Chinghiz prohibited to his successors. The pre- 
liminary phrase also seems the same that is found prefixed to the 
Tartar letters in the French archives; and which Remusat 
states to be a mark of genuine character.' In any case the 
letter is meritoriously short and to the point, so we may give it 
infull.* 

1 " Vidi ettam Bononia quando ihi legebam,** (Dohner, p. 112.) 
' See above, p. 172. * See p. 183 above. 

* HUi, d£$ MongoU, ii, 606. 

' Mem. de VAeademie de$ Inscript. (Modem) vii, 367. He renders it 
"Par la force du del tuprime" 

* This and the other letters connected with this embassy are given in 
Wadding, vol. vli, pp. 209 and »eq. ; also in Jfof^m, Append., pp. 166 
and eeq. 



314 MARIGNOLLl's RECOLLECTIONS OF EASTERN TRAVEL. 



it 



In the strength of the Omnipotent God ! 
The Emperor of Emperors commandeth : 

" We send our envoy, Andrew the Frank, with fifteen others, 
to the Pope, the Lord of the Christians, in Frank-land beyond 
the Seven Seas^ where the snn goes down, to open a way. for the 
frequent exchange of messengers between us and the Pope ; and 
to request the Pope himself to send us his blessing, and always 
to remember us in his holy prayers ; and to commend to him the 
Alans, our servants and his Christian sons. Also we desire that 
our messengers bring back to us horses and other rarities fix>m 
the sun-setting. 

" Written in Cambalec, in the year of the Bat, in the sixth 
month, on the third day of the Moon."* 

The letter of the Alan chiefs, with partial omissions, runs as 
follows: — 

" In the strength of the Omnipotent God, and in the honour of 
our Lord the Emperor ! 

" We, FuTiM JoENS, Chaticen Tungii, Gemboga Evenzi, Joannes 
lucHOT (and Bubeus Pinzanus),^ with our heads in the dust salute 

^ Meinert (see below) supposes these seven seas to be the Aral, Cas- 
pian, Sea of Azov, Black Sea, Sea of Marmora, Archipelago, and the 
Mediterranean. It may be noted that Edriai also reckons seven seas 
besides the Great Ocean, viz., Eed Sea, Green Sea (Persian Gulf), Sea of 
Damascus (Mediterranean), Sea of Venice, Sea of Pontus, and Sea of 
Joijan (Caspian). And the Arabian navigators of the ninth century also 
reckon seven seas between Basra and China. But any such scientific 
precision is here highly improbable. The reference is more likely to be to 
the seven annular seas of the Buddhist cosmogony, and done into vulgar 
English means only that the Pope lived at the " Back of Beyond." 

2 About July 1386. 

' These at first -sight look like names out of Gulliver* s Travels, such as 
Quinbus Flestrin and the like. They are several times repeated in the 
copies of different letters from the Pope that have come down to us, and 
the forms vary considerably. We have the following : 

Futim' Joens, Fodim and Fodin Jovens ; 
Chaticen Tungii, Chyansam and Chyausam Tongi ; 
Gemboga Evenzi, Chemboga Vensii or Vense ; 
loannes Jukoy, lochoy, or lathoy; 
Kubeus Pinzanus or Puizanus. 

The last name occurs in two of the Pope's letters, but not in that of the 
Alans as we have it. 
I cannot venture to say what these names arc meant to represent, but 



BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 315 

OUT Holy Father the Pope. . . . For a long time we received in- 
stmction in the Catholic faith, with wholesome guidance and 
ahnndant consolation, from yonr Legate Friar John, a man of 
weighty, capable, and holy character. Bat since his death, eight 
years ago, we have been withont a director, and without spiritual 
consolation. We heard, indeed, that thou hadst sent another 
legate, but he hath never yet appeared. Wherefore we beseech 
your Holiness to send us a legate, wise, capable, and virtuous, to 
care for our souls. And let him come quickly, for we are here a 
flock without a head, without instruction, without consolation. 
. . . And it has happened on three or four different occasions 
that envoys have come on thy part to the aforesaid Emperor our 
Master, and have been most graciously received by him, and have 

the following suggestions may at least show the sort of explanations that 
are practicable. I have a suspicion that the first six words form two 
names only instead of three. Assuming this we have for the first, Futim 
Joens (i.e. Toens) Chyansam. To reduce Toens or Tovens to a rational 
form it must be remembered that these names were probably trasnsferred 
from Persian, or some analogous character. Transfer Yovens hack into 
Persian it becomes ,-«5y, which when read properly into Boman letters 
is T4nus or Jonas, no doubt the name of the personage in question; whilst 
FuHm may represent the Chinese title Futai, and Chyansam that of 
Chingsang, the designation of the great ministers of state which often 
occurs in the Mongol history, and has already occurred in the extracts 
from Bashid. (IfOhsson, ii, 636; Joum. Asiat, ser. ii, tom. vi, pp. 352-3 ; 
supra, p. 263.) 

The next name will be TungU Oemhoga Vefisii. ISingii looks like the 
Dankji of Shah Bukh's Embassy, in the narrative of which we find it 
applied to the Chinese governors of the frontier provinces, perhaps as a 
corruption of the Chinese Tsiangshi, a general. Qemhoga or Chambuca is 
the proi)er name, a name quite Tartar in character, for scores of Boghas 
will be found in the histories of the Mongols and of Timur (from Turki 
Bugha, an army leader). We find Jamuca, which is perhaps the same 
name, as one of the rivals of Chinghiz (I/Ohsson, i, 70). And Vensii is 
almost certainly Wangshi, a commandant of ten thousand. 

The Fu&oy, which appears to be the title of Joannes, the next of the 
Alans, is perhaps YeuHe, which according to Yisdelou (Suppt. to Herbelot) 
is a rank equivalent to colonel, or as Pauthier calls it, " chef de hataillon 
{Chine Mod., 221). Lastly we have in the title of Rubeus Pinxanus, the 
Fanehdn or Panchdn of the Persian historians of the Mongol dynasty 
(D*Ohason, vi« 530, 637, etc. ; Ext. from Bashid, supra, p. 263) represent- 
ing the Chinese title of an under minister of state. Ruheus is probably 
a translation of the original name, Kizil or the like, meaning Red. 



n 



316 MAfilQNOLLl'S RECOLLECTIONS OF EASTERN TRAVEL. 

bad honours and presents bestowed upon them; and although all 
of them in turn proniised to bring back thine answer to our Lord 
aforesaid, never yet hath he had any reply from thee or from the 
Apostolic See. Wherefore let your Holiness see to it that this 
time and henceforward there may be no doubt about a reply bein^ 
sent, and an envoy also, as is fitting from your Holiness. For it 
is cause of great shame to Christians in these parts, when their 
fellows are found to tell lies." (Date as above.) 

The position of these Alans in China suggests a curious and 
perplexing problem. We shall find that MarignoUi speaks of 
them as ^' the greatest and noblest nation in the world, the fairest 
and bravest of men"; as those to whose aid Chinghiz owed all 
his great victories ; and who in the writer's own day were to the 
number of thirty thousand in the service of the Great Khan, and 
filled the most important offices or state, whilst all were, at least 
nominaUy, Christians. 

The Alans were known to the Chinese by that name, in the 
ages immediately preceding and following the Christian era^ as 
dwelling near the ^Aral, in which original position they are be- 
lieved to have been closely akin to, if not identical with, the 
£Eimous Massaget89. Hereabouts also Ptolemy (vi, 14) appears 
to place the Alani-ScythsB, and Alanaaan Mountains. From about 
40 B.C. the emigrations of the Alans seem to have been directed 
westward to the Lower Don ; here they are placed in the first 
century by Josephus and by the Armenian writers ; and hence 
they are found issuing in the third century to ravage the rich 
provinces of Asia Minor. In 376 the deluge of the Huns on its 
westward course came upon the Alans and overwhelmed them. 
Great numbers of Alans are found to have joined the conquerors 
on their further progress, and large bodies of Alans afberwards 
swelled the waves of Goths, Vandals, and Sueves, that roUed 
across the Western Empire. A portion of the Alans, however, 
after the Hun invasion retired into the plains adjoining Caucasus, 
and into the lower valleys of that region, where they maintained 
the name and nationality which the others speedily lost. Little is 
heard of these Caucasian Alans for many centuries, except occa- 
sionally as mercenary soldiers of the Byzantine emperors or the 



BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 31 7 

Persiaii kings. In the thirteenth centnry they made a stout re- 
sistance to the Mongol conquerors, and though driven into th«v 
mountains they long continued their forays on the tracts sub-- 
jected to the Tartar dynasty that settled on the Wolga, so that 
the Mongols had to maintain posts with strong garrisons to keep 
them in check. They were long redoutable both as warriors and 
as armourers, but by the end of the fourteen1;h century they seem 
to have come thoroughly under the Tartar rule ; for they fought \ 
on the side of Toctamish Khan of Sarai against the great Timut. 

The Chinese historians of the Mongol dynasty now call this 
people Asu, and by that name (Aas and the like) they were also 
known to Ibu Batuta and to the Frank travellers, Carpini, Bubru- 
qiuB, and Josafat Barbaro. This and other reasons led Elaproth 
to identify them with the Oasethi, still existing in Caucasus. 
Vivien St. Martin however has urged strong reasons against 
this identification, though he considers both tribes to have been 
originally members of one great stock of Asi, who by routes and 
at times widely separated, severally found their way from Central 
Asia to the region of Caucasus. According to the same authority- 
the Georgians, who always distinguished between the Alanethi 
and Ossethiy still recognize a people of the former branch in tVe 
interior of the Abaz country where no traveller has penetrated*. 

We now come to the difficulty of accounting for the appean^nce 
of numerous Alans in the armies and administration of 'the T^en 
dynasty, a difficulty which perhaps led Klaproth to sugge^^t that 
those were really of a Mongol tribe bearing that name, f^nd had 
nothing in common with the Caucasian people of whom we have 
been speaking.^ 

This suggestion has not met with acceptance. An^ there are 
notices to be found which account to some extent for the position 
ascribed to the Alans' in China, though the records^ on the sub- 
ject seem to be imperfect. Chinghiz Khan, in the course of his 
western conquests, is recorded to have forced mr-ny of the inha- 
bitants of the countries which he overran to tf*ke service in his 
armies. The historian Rashiduddin, in speaking of the Chris- 
tianity of the Keraits, and especially of t'le mother and the 

' Klaprolh, Mcigazin Asiatique, ••> p. 199. 



( 



318 MARIONOLLI^S BEC0LLECTI0N8 OF EASTERN TRAVEL. 

minister of Guyuk-EIhan, who were Christiana of that tribe, says 
that they summoned to the court of Karakoram numerous priests 
of Sjria, Asia Minor, the Alan country, and Russia. And Graubil, 
without apparently being aware of the identity with the Alans of 
the Asu (or Aas) who are spoken of in the text of the Chinese 
history which he follows, observes in a note that the country of 
the Abu, after its conquest, furnished many valuable officers 
to the Mongols, and that it could not have lain far from the 
Caspian. The same narrative states that Kublai Khan, when 
despatching an army against the Sung dynasty of Southern 
China, desired his general to select the best possible officers, and 
that there were consequently attached to the army many chiefs 
of the Uigurs, Persians, Kincha, Asu, and others. The anecdote 
which Marco Polo relates of the massacre of a body of Christian 
Alans during this very war, may also be called to mind. 

Still the numbers and very prominent position ascribed by 
Marignolli to the Alans in the Mongol- Chinese empire, are, afler 
all allowance for natural exaggeration of the importance of his 
co-religionists, rather startling. The history of these later princes 
f the Yuen dynasty does not seem to be accessible in any great 
(tail, but it is easily conceivable that as the spirit of the 
lingols degenerated, their princes, as in so many similar cases, 
c»^ to lean more and more on their foreign auxiliaries, and that 
theimay have been often found in occupation of the highest 
postbf the empire. Indeed it was one of the complaints against 
Tocat'ir or Shunti, the Emperor reigning at this time, that he 
gave timuch authority to "foreigners of ill-regulated morals."^ 
Retu'ng to the embassy of 1338, we find that it was gra- 
ciously i-eived by the Pope, Benedict XII, one mark of his 
favour bei* to create one of the Tartar envoys sergeant-at-arms 
to himself pHat in duo time his Holiness delivered answers to 

^ See a leam>article by Vivien St, MarHn, in Ann. de Voyages for 1848« 
iii, 129 ; also R-uquia, pp. 242, 243, 262, 381 ; Carpini, pp. 709, 729 ; 
Ramusio, ii, 92; iMcvrtin in Jbum. Aaiat., ser. ii, torn, v, 175 ; Klaproth 
in ditto, p. 389; ^quet in ditto, Tii, 417-433; St. Martin, Mhn. 9ur 
VArmenie, ii, 280 ; i Batuta, ii, 448 ; Qauhil, Hi»t. de Oentchis Can., pp. 
40, 147 ; Deguignes, I'^IS, etc. 

2 BaluziuB, VitcB PaAvenion, i, 242. 



BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 319 

the letters from Cathay; and that shortly afterwards he ip* 
pointed legates to proceed on his own part to the conrt of Canl- 
balec, with a charge which combined the reciprocation of the\ 
Khaji's courtesies with the promotion of missionary objects. ' 

The letters addressed by the Pope in reply to the E!han and 
the Alan Princes are of no interest.^ They were accompanied 
by letters also to the Khans of Kipchak and Chagatai, and to 
two Christian ministers of the latter sovereign, expressing the 
Pope's intention speedily to send envoys to those courts. With 
these letters the eastern envoys departed from Avignon in July 
1338, bearing recommendations also from the Pope to the Doge 
and Senate of Venice, and to the Kings of Hungary and Sicily.^ 

Some months later the Pontiff named the legates, and addressed 
a letter to them under date ii Kal. Novemb., in the fourth year 
pf his Popedom, i.e., 31st October, 1338. Their names were 
Nicholas Boneti S. T. P., Nicholas of Molano, John of Florence, 
and. Gregory of Hungary. 

But for the disinterment of Marig^oUi's reminiscences in the / 
Bohemian Chronicle, this is all that we should know of the mis-' 
sion, excepting what is conveyed by a few brief lines in Wadding'*fl 
Annals of the Order under 1342, as to the arrival of the party ^at 
the Court of Cambalec, and eleven years later as to the returD<i of 
its surviving members to the headquarters of the Churcli at 
Avignon. 

It does not appear with what strength or composition tb^e mis* 
sion actually started, but probably there were a good maiMJ friars 
in addition to the legates. Indeed, a contemporary / German 
chronicler says, that fifty Minorites were sent forth on . this occa- 
sion ; but it is evident that he had no accurate knowl/idge on the 
subject; and, indeed, his notice is accompanied b^ one of the 
fabulous statements, so frequent in that age, as to tKie conversion 
of the Grand Kh&n to Christianity, and by other prfalpable errors.' 

1 The letter to the Ehan from this James Foiimie)^ Bishop of Borne 
ander the name of Benedict XII, commences without/ any mincing of the 
matter : " Nos qui, licet immerUi, locux dbi TSNBxn.s in tbbris." 

* Wadding, Lc, t 

^ Under the year 1339 : " The King of the Tart^^rs is reported to have 
been converted through the agency of a certaii i woman who had been 



\ 



320 MARIGNOLLI'S RECOLLECTIONS OF EASTERN TRAVEL. 

MffeHgnolli mentions incidentally that the party, dnring^ their 
a^jay at Camhalec, consisted of thirty-two persons, bat with no 
^nrther particulars. Nor do we even know what became of his 
colleagues in the legation. Though Marignolli's name comes 
only third in the Pope's letters, he speaks throughout his narra- 
tive as if he had been the chief, if not the sole, representative of 
the Pontiff. And it is him alone that Wadding mentions by name 
in his short notices of the proceedings and return of the mission. 
One of the four indeed, Nicholas Boneti, must have returned 
Speedily if he ever started for the East at all. For in May 1842 
\ he is recorded to have been appointed by Clement YI to the 
[ Bishopric of Malta. ^ 

I Marignolli's notices of his travels have no proper claim to the 

\ title of a narrative, and indeed the construction of a narrative 

\ out of them is a task something like that of raising a geological 

I theory out of piecemeal observations of strata and the study of 

\ scattered organic remains. It is necessary, therefore, to give a 

\ short sketch of the course of his travels, such as the editor has 

mnderstood it, unless readers are to go through the same amount 

d.f trouble in putting the pieces together. But in doing so I 

stiaU anticipate as little as possible the details into which our 

author enters. 

T^he party lefb Avignon in December 1338, but had to wait at 
NapU^s some time for the Tartar envoys, who had probably been 
lioniziL^g in the cities and courts of Italy. Constantinople was 

brought ii^o the Catholic faith by the Minor Friars dweUing in that 
country for the purpose of preaching Christ's Oospel. And he sent am- 
bassadors i^v^th a letter to Pope Benedict, to beg that he would deign to 
send teacher^i, preachers, and directors of the orthodox faith to convert 
the people, to\ baptize the converted, and to confirm the baptized in their 
new faith. Aiid the Pope, joyfully assenting, arranged the despatch of 
fifty Minor Frid^rs (because men of that order had been the instruments 
of the king's coiuyersion), all men of good understanding and knowledge 
of life. But as \o what progress they have made, or how much people 
they have won to t^he Lord Jesus Christ, up to this present time of Lent 
in the year 1343 no\ news whatever hath reached Suabia." {Joannis Ktto- 
dwrani (of Winterthtir) Chron. in Eceard, i., coL 1852.) 

1 Wadding, An. 134<^, § iv. This annalist says of Nicholas, as if know- 
ing all about his retutm, "gut tamen ob graves causas ex ipso reversus est 
iHnere,** ^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 321 

reacbed on the let May, 1339, and there the party baited till 
midsummer. They then sailed across the Black Sea to Cafffti^ 
and travelled thence to the Conrt of Uzbek, Khan of Kipchak, no^ 
doubt at Sarai. The winter of 1339 was passed there ; and, sap- * 
posing the party to start abont May and to take the nsnal com- 
mercial ronte by Urghanj, they would get to Armalec (or Alma- 
lig), the capital of the Chagatai dynasty or " Middle Empire*', 
abont September. The stay of the mission at Almalig was pro- 
longed. They did not quit it till 1341, and perhaps not till near 
the end of that year. They must also have spent some con- 
siderable time at Eamil,^ so that probably they did not arrive at 
Peking till about May or June 1342. It was, however, almost 
certainly within that year; for both Wadding's notice, and a 
curious entry in the Chinese Annals, agree in naming it.^ 

The time spent by Marignolli at Cambalec extended to three 
or four years, after which he proceeded through the empire to 
the port of Zayton, where there were houses of his Order. He 
sailed from Zayton for India on the 26th December, either in ^ 
1346 or 1347, probably the latter. Of this voyage unluckily he * 
says not one word, except to record his arrival at Columbun^ 
(Quilon) in Malabar, during the following Easter week. He r«a- 
mained with the Christians of Columbum upwards of a year, amd 
then, during the south-west monsoon of 1348 or 1349, set 'sail 
for tbe Coromandel Coast to visit the shrine of Thomari the 
Apostle. After passing only four days there he procee«^ed to 
visit Saba, a country which he evidently means to be id-entified 
with the Sheba of Scripture, and which he finds still govisrned by 
a queen. 

As this Saba and its queen offer the most difficult problem in 
all the disjointed story of Marignolli's wanderings.) and as his 
notices of it are widely dispersed, I will bring toge^ther the sub- 
stance of all in this place, hoping that some critic may have learn- 
ing and good luck enough to soWe a knot which I have given up 
in something like despair. 

1 See MarignoUi's BecoUections of Travel, itifrci, ;near the end. 
* Wadding, vii, p. 268, and note, infra, on the ^orses conveyed to the 
Khan by Marignolli. 

21 



322^ MABIONOLLI^S RECOLLECTrONS OP EA8TEBN TRAVEL. 

rhis Saba, then, is the finest island in the world ; the Arctic 
"^ole is there, as was pointed oat to Marignolli by Master 
Lemon of Gbnoa (I suppose after his return to Europe), six 
degrees below the horizon, and the Antartic as much above it, 
whilst many other wonderful astronomical phenomena are visi- 
ble ; women always or very generally administer the government ; 
the walls of the palace are adorned with fine historical pictures ; 
chariots and elephants are in use, especially for the women; 
there is a mountain of very great height called Oyheit or The 
Blessed, with which legends of Elias and of the Magi are con- 
nected ; the queen treats the traveller with great honour and 
invests him with a golden girdle, such as she was wont to bestow 
upon those whom she created princes ; there are a few Christians 
there ; and finally when Marignolli has quitted Saba he is over- 
taken by a series of gales, which drive his ship (apparently con- 
trary to intention) into a port of Ceylon. 

Meinert, the first who commented on Marignolli, is clear that 
Java is intended by him ; Kunstmann as clear that he speaks of 
the Maldives. The latter idea also occurred to me before I had 
he pleasure of seeing Professor Kunstmann's papers, but I re- 
cted it for reasons which seem insuperable, 
^t is true and certainly remarkable that both Masudi in the 
t of the ninth century, and Edrisi in the eleventh, speak of the 
Iy^4xt or Bohaihat (which are apparently errors of transcrip- 
tioix Bihajdt, and mean the Maldives) as more or less under 
fenu'ovemment ; and when Ibn Batuta was in the same islands 
a sho tne before Marignolli's return from China, there actually 
reigne^emale sovereign, Kadija by name, the daughter of the 
decease itan, and who had been set upon the throne in place 
of a bro whom the people had deposed. Her husband exer- 
cised thfc-Jiority in fact, but all orders were issued in her 
name. E*. also mentions the queen as going on " state occa- 
Bions with women mounted on elephants, with trumpets, 
flags, etc., ^insbands and vizirs following at an interval."^ 
This is strik 1,^^ {f^ jg impossible to accept the evidence 
about the elepi without strong corroboration. These would 

•"*« French Trans,, vol. i, pp. 67, 8. 



BTOORAPHICAL AND IKTEODUCTORY NOTICES. 323 

at all times liave been highly inconvenient gnests npon the little 
Maldiye Isles, and we gather from Ibn Batuta that in his tiiiie 
(and MarignoUi's) there were but one horse and one mare od^ 
the whole metropolitan island. Nor conld onr anthor with any 
show of reason call these little clusters, with their produce of 
covrries and coco-nnts, "the finest island in the world." We 
might perhaps get over the statement about the latitude, as wiser 
men than Marignolli made great mistakes in such matters^ But 
where are we to find a " very loffyand almost inaccessible moun- 
tain" in the Maldives P You might as well seek such a thing on 
the Tezel. 

We may remember that Odoric in his quaint idiom terms Java 
"the second best of all islands that exist," whilst the historic 
pictures on the palace walls of Saba rather strikingly recal what 
the same friar tells us about the like in the palace of the Kings 
of Java, and I should be quite content to accept Java with 
Meinert, if we could find there any proof of the frequency of 
female sovereignty. I quote below the only two traces of this 
that I have been enabled to discover.^ Though I do not think it 
so probable, it is just possible that some "province of Sumatra 

1 The chronology of Javanese histoiy up to the establishment of Islam 
is very doubtful, and it Is difficult to say how far either of the following 
instances of female rale might suit the time of MarignoUi's voyage. 

1. An ineffectual attempt having been made by Batu Dewa, a iTative of 
Koningan in the province of Cheribon, who had been entmsted/with the 
administration of Gtihi, to maintain an authority independent of Mf^ja- 
X)ahit^ he lost his life in the straggle, and his widow Torbita, whp persevered 
and was for a Hme successful, was at length overcome and went over to 
M^japahit. 

2. Merta W\jaya, fifth prince of Majapahit, left two children, a daaghter 
named Kanchana Wanga, and a son, Angka W^jaya, who according to 
some authorities raled jointly. The princess, however, ift better known as 
an independent sovereign, under the title of Frabu Kanya TTA-tinliiLTia. 
Wongu (see Raffles, Hist, of Java, ii, 107 and 121). 

This second Vstanoe seems the most pertinent, and as the fifth prince of 
Mf^apahit, according to Walckenaer's correction of the chronology, came 
to the throne in 1322, the time appears to suit fairly. (See Mem, de VAcad. 
des Inscript., xv (1842), p. 224 seqq). 

The stories of Eliaa (or Ehidr) would be gathered from the Mahomedan 
settlers here, as those of Adam and Cain were gathered (as we shall see) 
by our traveller in Ceylon. 

212 



324 MABIONOLLl'S EBC0LLBCTI0N8 OP EASTERN TRAVEL. 

may be meant. We know tbat island to have been called Java 

by tbe Mahomedan navigators, as may be seen in Marco Polo, 

Xbn Batata, and the Catalan Map, in which last the great island 

. named Jarut (for Java) seems certainly to represent Sumatra. 

I And, curionsly enough, in this map we find towards the north 

' end of the island Begio Feminarum, with the effigy of a qneen. 

Also Ida Pfeiffer, during her wanderings in Sumatra, heard that 

there existed round the great Lake Eier Tau, a powerful people 

under female rule. Vcdecmt quantum ! 

It is worth while, however, to note what Nikitin the Russian, 

in the succeeding century, says about a place called Shabat or 

Shabait, which he heard of in India. It was a very large 

place on the Indian seas, two months' voyage from Dabul, 

one month's voyage from Ceylon, and twenty days from Pegu. 

\ It produced abundance of silk, sugar, precious stones, sandal 

\ wood and elephants. The Jews called the people of Shabait 

Jews, but they were in truth neither Jews, nor Mahomedans, nor 

\ Christians, but of a different religion. They did not eat with 

<)^ews or Mahomedans, and used no meat. Everything was cheap, 

et^c. If we could identify this place, perhaps we should find the 

Sa\ba of Marignolli. 

[hough the latitude assigned to Saba applies correctly to 
JavaV and not to Sumatra, we must remember that Marco Polo 
there \speaks with wonder of the country's lying so far to the 
south t\hat the Pole Star could not be seen. And in a very 
curious V'Ontemporary reference to Polo,^ the author says of 
the Magei^lanic clouds : '* In the country of the Zingi there is 
seen a star^ as big as a sack. I know a man who saw it>, and he 
told me thai it had a faint light like a piece of cloud, and is 

t 

m 
« 

' Petri ilponen '*is Medici ac Philosophi CelAerrimi Conciliator, Venice, 
1521, fol. 97. Thil's Peter, physician and astrologer, bom in 1250 at Abano 
near Padua, was "j^ >rofe8sor of medicine at the university in that city. He 
was twice brought^ up by the Inquisition on charges of sorcery, and the 
second time he only ^escaped their hands by death. He was posthumously 
condemned, but the n lagistrates objected to fiurther proceedings, and his 
body was burnt in effig T only. 

This carious passag^) was first pointed out by Zorla (quoted by BaU 
dello Bono, II Milione, ii, 486.) Bat I do not think he notices the wood- 
cut, which is omitted in s^ ome editions. It has been thought worth copy- 
ing here, as an approach at least to an autograph drawing by Marco Polo ! 






BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 825 

always in the sontli. I was told of this and other matters 
also by Marco the Venetian, the most extensive traveller and 
the most diligent inquirer whom I have ever known. He saw 
this same star under the Antartic ; he described it as having a 
great tail, and drew a figure of it, thus. He also told me that he 
saw the Antarctic Pole at an 
altitude above the earth, ap- 
parently equal to the length 
of a soldier's lance, whilst the 
Arctic Pole was as much de- 
pressed. 'Tis from that place, 
he said, that they export to 
us camphor, lign-aloes, and 

brazil. He says the heat there a 

is intense, and the habitations ^•^ 

few. And these things he witnessed in a certain island at which 
he arrived by sea;... and there was no way of getting at this 
place except by sea." There can be no doubt that this reported 
oral relation of Marco referred to Sumatra, and the wording 
of the passage in regard to the Poles, as well as the description 
of the *' other wonderful things in regard to the stars," lead me 
strongly to suspect that it was from this very passage of Peter 
of Abano that Master Lemon of Genoa pointed out those facts 
to Marignolli. 

In quitting Saba our author took ship again, probably to return 
to Malabar on his way towards Europe, and was driven into 
Ceylon in the manner mentioned above. Here he fell into the 
hands of a Mussulman buccaneer, who had at this time got pos- 
session of a considerable part of the island ; and was by him 
detained for some four months, and stript of all the Eastern valu- 
ables and rarities that he was carrying home. 

Notwithstanding these disagreeable experiences, Marignolli 
appears to recur again and again with fascination to his recollec- 
tions of Ceylon, and they occupy altogether a considerable space 
in these notices. The Terrestrial Paradise, if not identified in 
Marignolli's mind with a part of the island (for his expressions are 
hazy and ambiguous), is at least closely adjacent, and sheds a 
delicious influence over all its atmosphere and productions. This 



326 MARIONOLLl'S BECOLLECTIONS OF EA8TSBN TRAVEL. 

idea is indeed so prominent that a short explanatory digression 
on the subject will not be inappropriate. 

It was in the west that the ancients dreamed of sacred and 
happy islands, where the golden age had survived the deluge of 
corruption. But it was to the opposite quarter that the legends 
of the middle ages pointed, building as they did upon that garden 
which was planted " eastward in Eden"; and though it was in 
sailing west that Columbus thought he had found the skirts of 
Paradise near the mouths of Orinoco, it must be remembered 
that he was only seeking the " far East" by a shorter route. 

What has been written on the Terrestrial Paradise would pro- 
bably fill a respectable library. MarignoUi's idea of it was evi- 
dently the same as that which seems to have been generally 
entertained in his age, viz., that of a great mountain rising in 
ineffable tranquillity and beauty far above all other earthly things, 
from which came tumbling down a glorious cataract, dividing at 
the foot into four great rivers, which somehow or other, under- 
ground or over, found their several ways to the channels of Hid- 
dekel and Euphrates, and of such other two streams as might be 
identified with Gihon and Phison. This mountain was frequently 
believed to rise to the sphere of the moon, an opinion said to be 
maintained even by such men as Augustine and Bede.^ 

The localities assigned to Paradise have been infinitely various. 
Old oriental tradition was satisfied to place it in Ceylon ; but 
western behef more commonly regarded it as in the more extreme 
^ast, where John of Hese professes to have seen it. Cosmas, 

^ " Joannes Hopkinsonius" however, who has disserted upon Paradise, 
judiciously stigmatizes this as a manifest figment. For, quoth he, is not 
the height of the moon according to Ptolemy and Alphraganos, seven- 
teen times the earth's diameter; and would not such a mountain there- 
fore require for a base ai least the whole superficies of the terrestrial hemi- 
sphere, and deprive us of a great part of the sun's light P Joannes 
Tostatus therefore is more reasonable when he says that Paradise does 
not quite reach the moon, but rises into the third region of the air, and 
is higher than all other mountains of the earth by twenty cubits ! (The 
same John thinks Paradise was or is about twelve miles long, and some 
thirty six or forty in compass.) Of his mind is Ariosto when he speaks of 

" La cima 
Che non lontana con la superba bulza 
Dal cerchio della Luna esser si stima." — (xzxiv, 48.) 

(See Hopkinsonius, eic, in Ugolini, as quoted below, vii, pp. dczi-xiii-xiv.) 



BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTBODUCTOBY NOTICES. 327 

again, considered it to lie with the antedilnyian world beyond 
the ocean which encompasses the oblong platean of the earth 
that we inhabit. Father Filippo the Carmelite thinks it lay 
probably in iiie bosom of Ararat, whilst Ariosto seems to identify 
it with Kenia or Ealimanjaro, — 

" n monte ond' eece il gran fiume d' Egitto 
...... 

Ch' oltre alle nnbi e presso al del ei leva; 

Era quel Paradiso che terrestre 

Si dice, ore abit6 fpk Adamo ed Eva."— (xxxiii, 109, 110.) 

The map of Andrea Bianchi, at Venice, agrees with Marignolh', 
for it shows Paradiso Terrestre adjoining Cape Comorin, whilst 
the four rivers are exhibited as flowing np the centre of India, — 
one into the north of the Caspian, near Agrican (Astracan, viz., 
the Wolga) ; a second into the south of the Caspian, near Jilan 
(Araxes ?) ; a third into the Ghilf of Scanderoon (Orontes ?); and 
the fourth, Euphrates. 

Some other old maps and fictitious voyagers, such as John of 
Hese, assign a terrestrial position also to Purgatory. Dante, it 
will be remembered, has combined the sites of Purgatory and of 
the earthly Paradise, making the latter the delightful summit of 
the mountain whose steep sides are girt with the successive 
circles of purification. 

And to conclude this matter in the words of Bishop Huet of 

Avranches : ''Some have placed the terrestrial Paradise 

under the arctic pole ; some in Tartary, on the site occupied now 
by the Caspian ; some at the extreme south, in Terra del Fuego ; 
many in the East, as on the banks of the Ganges, in the island 
of Ceylon, in China, beyond the sun-rising, in a place no longer 
habitable. Others in America, in Africa, in the equinoctial 
orient, under the equator, on the Mountains of the Moon. Most 
have set it in Asia; but of these, some in Armenia Major, some 
in Mesopotamia, in Assyria, in Persia, in Babylonia, in Arabia, 
in Syria, in Palestine. Some even would stand up for our own 
Europe ; and some, passing all bounds of nonsense, have placed 
it at Hesdin in Artois, urging the resemblance to Bden"^ 

> F, D. Huetii, Epise. Ahrinc, TrcLct. de Situ Paradisi Terrest in Ugolini, 
Thesaurus Antiq, Sacr., Venet.» 1747, vii, p. dii. Also Cosmas in MonU 
faucon, CoU. Nova Patrum, ii, 131 ; Peregrin. Joannia He$ei, et-c.» Antv,, 
1365, etc. 



328 MARIQNOLLl'S BECOLLECTIONS OF EASTERN TRAVEL. 

How, or in what company, Marignolli qnitted Ceylon, he leaves 
untold. We only gather from very slight and incidental notices 
that he most have sailed to Hormuz, and afterwards travelled by 
the ruins of Babylon to Baghdad, Mosul, Edessa, Aleppo, and 
thence to Damascus, Qahlee, and Jerusalem. The sole further 
trace of him on his way to Italy, is that he seems to have touched 
at Cyprus. 

In 1353, according to Wadding, he arrived at Avignon, bring- 
ing a letter from the Khan to the Pope (now Innocent VI), in 
which the monarch was made to express the greatest esteem for 
the Christian faith, to acknowledge the subjection of his Christian 
lieges to the Pope, and to ask for more missionaries. 

It was probably during the visit of the Emperor Charles IV^ 
to Italy in 1354, to be crowned by the Pope at Bome, that he 
became acquainted with Marignolli, and made him one of his 
domestic chaplains. To this he was perhaps induced by curi- 
osity to hear at leisure the relations of one who had travelled to 
the world's end ; for, though mean in moral character, Charles 
was a man of intelligence, and an encourager of learning and the 
useful arts.2 

In 1354 also the Pope rewarded our traveller with the bishopric 
of Bisignano in Calabria.^ The bishop, however, seems to have 
been in no hurry to reside there ; thinking perhaps that a man 
who had spent so many years of his life in travelling to Cathay 
and back, might well be excused from passing the whole of those 
that remained to him in the wilds of Calabria. He seems to have 
accompanied the Emperor on his return from Italy to his paternal 

^ Charles, son of John of Luxemborg, King of Bohemia, the blind war- 
rior who fell at Crecy, was bom in 1316, and in 1346 was elected emperor 
in place of the excommunicated Lewis of Bavaria. 

^ Dobner was not able to find the appointment of Marignolli among 
the archives of Charles's court at Prague, though he found several other 
nominations to that dignity, viz., as " eonsiliaritts, capellan%M, familiaris 
et commensalis domesticus.*' 

> 12th May, 1354 {Ughelli, Italia Sacra, as above). The small episcopal 
city of Bisignano, supposed to have been the ancient Besidi», stands on 
a hill to the east of the post-road between Castrovillari and Cosenza. It 
gives the title of prince to the Sanseverino family (Murray), Wadding 
notices the appointment of a Friar John to this bishopric, but seems not 
to have known that it was the leg^ate whose return from Cathay he had 
recorded. 



BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTOBT NOTICES. 329 

dommions ;^ whilst in 1356 we find him at Avignon, acting as 
envoy to the Pope from the republic of Florence ; and in 1857 
he is traced at Bologna by his grant of indulgence privileges to 
one of the churches in that city.^ 

It was, no doubt, during MarlgnoUi's visit to Prague that the 
Emperor desired him to undertake the task of recasting the 
Annah of Bohemia, Charles would have shewn a great deal more 
sense if he had directed his chaplain to write a detailed narrative 
of his own eastern experiences. However, let us be thankful for 
what we have. The essential part of the task set him was utterly 
repugnant to the Tuscan churchman. He drew back, as he says 
himself, ''from the thorny thickets and tangled brakes of the 
Bohemian chro^iicles"; from '' the labyrinthine jungle of strange 
names, the very utterance of which was an impossibility to his 
Florentine tongue." And so he consoled himself under the dis- 
agreeable duty imposed on him, by interpolating his chronicles, 
apropos de hottes, with the recollections of his Asiatic travels, or 
with the notions they had given him of Asiatic geography. It 
might have been hard, perhaps, to drag these into a mere 
chronicle of Bohemia ; but in those days every legitimate chronicle 
began from Adam at latest, and it would have been strange if 
this did not afford latitude for the introduction of any of Adam's 
posterity. 

Chronicle and reminiscences alike slept in Prague cloister dust 
for some four centuries. During all that time Marignolli's name 
as a Bohemian chronicler is only twice alluded to, and that by 
authors strange to nearly all beyond Bohemian boundaries ; one 

1 KarignoUi's most distinct mention of having been at Prague is found 
at p. 186 (of Dobner), in introducing a chapter entitled " Mircumlum de 
Incitione digiii Scti Ifieolai." He says this £lnger was sent to the Emperor 
with other reliques by the Pope> " and it will not be irrelevant to state/' 
he proceeds, " a new miracle which mine own eyes have seen and mine 
own hands have handled/' etc. ; and then tells his story about blood 
flowing when the Emperor pricked the finger, etc. Now, according to 
Dobner, Hagecius a Bohemian chronicler ascribes this story to 1353. 
This is probably wrong, otherwise the Emperor must have called Mari- 
gnoUi to Prague previous to his own visit to Italy. 

> Sbardlea, as above. In the grant of indulgence he speaks of himself 
as administering for Richard Archbishop of Nazareth, a brother of his 
order. The diocese of Nazareth, created in honour of the name, had a 
scattered jurisdiction chiefly in the kingdom of Naples (Ughelli, vol. vii). 



330 MABIONOLLl'S RECOLLECTIONS OF EASTERN TRAVEL. 

of whom, moreover, does not seem to have read Mm.^ It was 
not till 1768 that he became accessible to the world in the second 
volume of unpublished monuments of Bohemian histoiy, edited 
by the Reverend Gelasius Dobner, member of an educational 
order.^ Dobner's qualifications for dealing with Bohemian his- 
tory were probably superior to what he exhibits in commenting 
on Asiatic travels and geography. His notes on the latter sub- 
jects are often astonishing indeed, and are calculated amply to 
justify the foresight of his godfathers and godmothers in the 
name they gave him. 

But though the account of MarignoUi's journeys became thus 
accessible to the world, it only transferred its sleep from manu- 
script to type ; for no one seems to have discovered these curious 
interpolations in a Bohemian chronicle till 1820, when an inte- 
resting paper on the subject was published by Mr. J. G. Meinert 
in the Transactions of the Scientific Society of Bohemia.' He 
adopted the plan of extracting from Dobner all that bore upon 
MarignoUi's travels, and then rearranging the passages in as 
orderly and continuous a form as they admitted of, accompanying 
the whole with an intelligent commentary. 

An essay on MarignoUi's travels has also been published by 
Professor Kunstmann in his series of papers already alluded to.* 
To both of these articles I have been indebted for occasional sug- 
gestions, and especially for indications of some of the illustrative 
sources which I have followed up. But my work was far ad- 
vanced before I met with Kunstmann. 

The time when MarignoUi digested the chronicles, and salted 
them with his recollections, cannot be precisely determined. All 
that can be said positively is, that it was after his nomination as 
bishop (for that dignity is specified in the title and body of the 

^ These are, according to Dobner, HagecioB, and MatthiaB Bolesluzky, 
a historian of the seventeenth century. 

' Mtmumeaia HUtorica Bohemim nuaquam antehac edita, etc., CoUegit, 
etc., P. Gelasius Dobner a S. Catherina, Clericia Begvlaribtu Seholarum 
Piarum, torn, i, Prague, 1764$ ; torn, ii, ib,, 1768. 

> Ahhandl. der K, B6hm. OeaelUchaft der Wissensehc^ften, vol. vii. 
" Johannes von Marignola Minderen Bruders und Pabstlichen Legaten 
Seise in das Morgenland, etc. Aus dem Latoin {ibersetzt, geordnet und 
erliiutert von J. G. Meinert, etc." 

♦ See p. 39 supra. 



BJOGBAPHICAL AND IKTBODUCTOBT NOTICES. 331 

chronicle, see p. 335), and prevwus to the death of Innocent YI, of 
whom he speaks in the last paragraph of his book as still reigning ; 
4.6., between May 1354 and September 1362. But there can be 
little doubt that he wrote the book during his visit to Prague in 
1354 or 1355. 

It has been already said that Marignolli must have been an old 
man when he wrote these recollections ; and I think readers will 
assent to this, though it has been found impossible in the trans- 
lation to avoid softening his peculiarities. There are often vivid 
remembrance and graphic description of what he has seen ; but 
these are combined with the incontinent vanity of something like 
second childhood, and with an incoherent lapse from one subject 
to another, matched by nothing in literature except the conver- 
sation of Mrs. Nickleby. His Latin is of a bad sort of badness. 
The Latin of Jordanus is bad in one sense. When he says " istud 
ales quod vacatur rhmocerunta,** he utters abnost as many blunders 
as words ; but he is nearly always perfectly and vividly intelli- 
gible. The Latin of Marignolli is bad because it is the hazy ex- 
pression of confused thoughts.^ The supposition that Marignolli 
was at this time advanced in years, and moreover not looked on 
as very wise in his generation, is confirmed by a curious letter 
bearing to be addressed to him by a Bishop of Armagh, which 

1 Ab an example of Marig^olli's incoherence take the original of a pas- 
sage in Dobner, p. 100 (see below, in chapter Concerning Clothing of our 
Ftrsi Parents), 

" Ideo videtur sine assercione dicendum qnod non pelHceas tunicas est 
legendom sed filiceas. Kam inter folia nargillorom de quibos supra 
dictum est naacnntur fila ad modum tele staminis quasi grossi et rari 
sicci de quibus edam hodie fiunt apud illos et apud Judeos Testes pro 
pluvia msticomm qui vocantur Camalli portantes sea onera et eciam 
homines et mulieres portant super scapulas in lecticis de qmbus in Can- 
ticis : ferculom fecit sibi Salomon de hgnis Libani, id est lectulom portati- 
lem sicnt portabar ego in Zayton et in India. Unam talem vestem de lilis 
illis camallorom non camelorum portavi ego usque Florenciam et dimisi in 
eacristia Minoram similem vesti lohannis Baptiste. Kam piU camelorum 
aunt delicacior lana que sit in mundo poet seiicum. Fui enim aliquando 
cum infinitis camelis et puUis cameloram in deserto yaetissimo descen- 
dendo de Babilon confasionis versus Egiptum per viam Damaaci cum 
Aiabibos infinitis. Neo in SeyUano sunt cameli sed elephantes innumeri 
qtii licet sint ferocissimi raro tamen nocent homini peregrine. Ego equi- 
tavi super unum Begine Sabe qui videbatur habere usum racionis si non 
esBet contra fidem." 



332 MARIONOLLl'S RECOLLECTIONS OF EASTERN TRAVEL. 

Dobner turned np among the records of the Emperor Charles's 
time in the Metropolitan chapter library at Prague. It may be 
gathered from the letter that some intention had been intimated, 
on the part of higher ecclesiastical authorities, of sending Marl- 
gnolli to Ireland in connexion with questions then in debate with 
the writer. The wrath of the latter seems to have been sorely- 
stirred at this intimation, and he turns up the lawn sleeves and 
brandishes the shillelagh in the following style of energetic meta- 
phor. We can hardly read the letter without a feeling that it 
ought to have been dated from Tuam rather than Armagh. But the 
writer turns out to have been one who had high claims to respect.^ 

"Reverend Father and very dear Friend ! 

"What those honourable gentlemen — De — , and — De — 
have told of your behaviour is anything but fitting in a man of 
your grey hairs and superior pretensions. And the message 
which your Reverence sent me by them is a poor sample of your 
prudence. 

"By the help of the Lord and the right that was on my side 

did not I exterminate ,the flower of your Order ? Have not 

I bate him already in fair fight, and am I going to stand in fear of 
any of the rest of ye ? Sure nothing is deficient in the present 
conjuncture, but that the conquering hero should receive the 
prize, and that by the blessing of God the crown of victory 
should descend to decorate his troyumphant brows ! 

"A nch recompense must abide the pen which eradicated the 
briars and thorns from the garden of Holy Church, which sent 
the ugly faction of error to the right-about, and cleared the street 
for Catholic Truth to walk in ! 

"I am not afraid of your Reverence's coming. 'Tis not likely 
that the prospect of having you for antagonist would frighten me ; 
me, who tore to rags the sophistries of the Englishmen, Okkam^ 

1 Some local colour has seemed necessary to do justice to this letter in 
translation, so I subjoin the latter part as a sample of the original : — 
"... Veniat igitur inveteratus ille Bisanensls Episcopus, Veniat ! (Quia 
ille qui se Apostolum Oriontis in curi& Cssaris ampullose denominat ?) 
ut experiatur in opera quid somnia sua prodesse valeant. Nam si canum 
latrantinm juventuti intersit vineula noatrae provisionis industria, facile 
quidem palpitantcm senio molossum ligaro curabimus, cui jam neque 
vocis daritas, neque scientise habilitas sufiVagantur." 

' William Ockham or Occam, an English Franciscan, very eminent 



BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 333 

and Bnrley,^ and the like, 'when they tried to spread a flimsy veil 
OTer the web of lies that they were weaving; me who had stopped 
their bootless barking with the words of piety and truth ! Let 
him come on then (say we), that old beggar of a Bisignano 
Bishop ! Let him come on ! We'll take the measure of him, 
though he does paycock about the Kaisar*s Court and call him- 
self (save the mark) the Aposthle of the East I Well let him 
find out what good his doting dreams will do him in a practical 
question. 'Twill be a pity if I, who have muzzled a whole pack 
of yelping hounds, find it a hard matter to put a collar on a poor 
old wheezing tyke, who has scarcely a bark lefb in him, and never 
had the l^ast repute for brains ! '* 

Dobner does not identify the writer of this letter, but there 
can be no doubt that it was Richard Fitz Ralph, Archbishop of 
Armagh, a strenuous adversary of the Franciscans and other 
mendicant orders, who however proved too strong for him at last, 
and brought him into trouble which he did not survive.^ 

among the schoolmen. He was provincial of his order in England, and 
as such took a prominent part at a council held at Asaisi in 1322 in sup- 
port of the strict obligation to poverty. It was perhaps on this ques- 
tion that he had been at war with the Archbishop of Armagh. Ockham 
took part with Corbarios the Anti-pope, and was excommunicated by 
John XXII. He took refuge with the Emperor Lewis the Bavarian, who 
was under the like ban, and died at an advanced age at the convent of 
his order in Munich, in 1347. (Cave, App., p. 28 ; Biog, UniveraeUe,) 

' Walter Burley, another eminent English Schoolman, and tutor to 
Edward III, bom at Oxford 1275, died 1357 (some say 1337). 

3 A native of Dundalk; he was held in high esteem by Edward 'III, 
and became successively Professor of Theology at Oxford, Dean of Lich- 
field, Chancellor of the University (1333), and Archbishop of Armagh 
(1347). In his constant war against the firiars we are told that " eorum 
vanam et superham pauperiatem Oxonii in lecturU theologicis salse veUifi- 
care solebat ; episeopus vera /actus acriori caJamo confixit ;" statements 
which firom the style of his letter can be well beUeved. They also appear 
to disprove the allegation of Wadding that Fitz-Balph's enmity to the 
friars first arose out of the resistance of the Franciscans of Armagh to a 
piece of iigustice on the part of the archbishop. 

Some sermons which he preached in London in 1356 against the Mars 
and the profession of voluntary poverty gave great offence. They ac- 
cosed him of heresy, and had him cited to Avignon where he was long 
detained. The questions perhaps involved very serious consequences to 
those who rashly stirred them, for only four years before, two Francis- 
cans, for holding wrong' opinions concerning the principle of poverty 
(thoTigh probably in a direction opposite to Fitz Ralph's) had been burnt 



334 MARIGNOLU'S RECOLLECTIONS OP EASTERN TRAVEL. 

This is the last that we can trace of Marignolli. The time of his 
death is unknown ; nor has even the date of his successor's nomi- 
nation to Bisignano been recovered, so as to fix it approzimatelj.^ 

It only remains to say a word abont the MSS. of MarignoUi's 
chronicle. That from which Dobuer edited the work is described 
as a paper folio, written partly at the end of the fourteenth cen- 
tury and partly at the beginning of the fifteenth. It was then in 
the Library of the Brethren of the Gross, or Passionists, in the 
old town of Prague ; but when Meinert wrote his essay it had 
been transferred to the Royal University Library. This MS. 
was supposed to be unique, but in the St. Mark's Library at 
Venice I have seen a partial copy, apparently of the fifteenth 
centDTy, embracing all the most important part of the Asiatic 
notices.^ Its differences from Dobner's edition were very trifling, 
and it contained the same error as to the date of the legation's 
departure from Avignon. But it has given distinctly the reading 
of a few names which had probably been misread by Dobner, 
such as Matid and Mangi where he read Maugi, Mynibar where 
he read Nymbar, Thaiia for Ghana, with a very few other differ- 
ences of more doubtful character. 

to death in the Pope's own city of Avignon. So the archbishop seeing 
that the authorities were going against him, retired (according to Wad- 
ding) to Belgium, probably on his way to England, and died there 16th 
December, 1359 or 1360; (Cave says, however, that he died at Avignon, 
13th November, 1360). 

It is pleasant to see that when Luke Wadding the Franciscan annalist 
treats of this worthy, the Irishman is stronger in him than the Friar. 
" Some," he says, " have counted Fitz Balph a heretic, bat undeservedly ; 
he sinned more from exuberant intellect than from perversity of wilL" 
He was deemed a saint in Ireland. His best title to the respect of poste- 
rity rests on his claim to have translated the Scriptures into Irish ; the 
whole, according to Fox ; the New Testament, according to Bale. He left 
many other works, chiefly controversial, of which some have been printed. 
One discourse which he delivered at Avignon in defence of his sermons 
against the friars may be seen in the Monarchia Sctcri Rom. Imperii of 
Goldastus. (Wadding, An, Min. an. 1357, § 4-9 ; Cavt, SeHpi. EecL, Oxon., 
1743, in Append.) ; Baluni Vit. Pap. Avenion, i, 323 ; QoldaeH, etc., ii, 
p. 1392). 1 Ughelli, u. s. 

> Bibl. Marciana, Class, x, Codd. Latt. dxxxviii, ff. 243-263. It ends 
with that chapter of the second book which treats of Soman histoiy. The 
volume contains a variety of other transcripts connected with Papal and 
Bohemian history. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF TEAVEL IN THE EAST, BY 

JOHN DE' MAMGNOLLI, 

PAPAL LEGATE TO THE COURT OP THE GREAT KHAN, 
AND AFTERWARDS BISHOP OF BISIQNANO. 



The anther begins by annonncing his intention of dividing his 
work into Three Books, viz., i. Thearchos, or the History of the 
World from the Creation to the Building of Babel ; ii. Monarchos^ 
or the History of Kings, from Nimrod down to the Franks and 
(Germans, and so to the Kingdom of Bohemia ; iii. I&rarchoe^ or 
the Ecclesiastical History, from Melchizedek to Moses and Aaron, 
to the Foundation of Christianity, and so to the Eoman Pontiffs 
and the Bishops of Bohemia in order. 

After speaking of the Creation the author comes to treat of 
Paradise, ''Eastward in. the place called Eden, beyond India," 
and this launches him at once on his reminiscences as follows : 

And now to insert some brief passages of what I have seen 
myself. I, Friar John of Florence, of the order of Minors, 
and now unworthy Bishop of Bisignano, was sent with cer- 
tain others, in the year of our Lord one thousand three 
hundred and thirty [eight],^ by the holy Pope Benedict the 
Eleventh,* to carry letters and presents from the apostolic 
see to the E[aan or chief Emperor of all the Tartars, a sove- 

> In both MS8. this is irieeBimo quarto, but beyond qaestion from a 
clerical error, as there is no doubt about the true year. Probably in the 
original MS. Tin was taken for iiii. 

' Unduvno in the Venice MS. ; Dobner has dw}de€imo. This Pope is 
sometiines XI, sometimes XII ; Benedict XI being in the latter case an 
antipope. 



336 RECOLLECTIONS OP TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

reign who holds the sway of nearly half the eastern world, 
and whose power and wealth, with the multitude of cities and 
provinces and languages under him, and the countless num- 
ber, as I may say, of the nations over which he rules, pass 
all telling. 

We set out from Avignon in the month of December, came 
to Naples in the beginning of Lent, and stopped there tiU 
Easter (which fell at the end of March), waiting for a ship 
of Genoa, which was coming with the Tartar envoys whom 
the Kaan had sent from his great city of Cambalec to the 
Pope, to request the latter to despatch an embassy to his 
court, whereby communication might be established, and a 
treaty of alliance struck between him and the christians ; for 
he greatly loves and honours our faith. Moreover the chief 
princes of his whole empire, more than thirty thousand in 
number, who are called Alans, and govern the whole Orient, 
are Christians either in fact or in name, calling themselves the 
Pope's slaves, and ready to die for the Franks. For so they 
term us, not indeed from France, but from Frank-land.^ 
Their first apostle was Friar John, called De Monte Corvine, 
who seventy-two years previously, after having been soldier, 
judge, and doctor in the service of the Emperor Frederic, 
had become a Minor Friar, and a most wise and learned 
one.^ 

Howbeit on the first of May we arrived by sea at Con- 

I " Non a Francia ted a Franquia" 

^ " Qui j>rtmo miles judex et doctor Friderici Imperatoris post Ixxii annos 
foetus frater minor" A perplexmg passage, owing to some error of the 
author's. Montecorvino could have been but three years old when 
Frederick II died in 1250. Dobner and Meinert assume that Marignolli 
meant John de Piano Carpini, who went on a mission from Pope Inno- 
cent IV to Tartaiy in 1246; but he was no apostle of Cathay; nor does 
there seem reason for believing that he was ever soldier or judge. No 
doubt one takes a liberty in rendering " post Ixxii annos" by " seventy -two 
years previously ;" but if it does not mean that, what does it mean P In 
1266, which would be seventy-two years previous to 1338, John of Monte- 
corvino was about twenty years old and might have become a Mar. The 
Venice MS. has "pts Ixxii annos" but I find no light in that. 



BY JOHN de' marignollt. 337 

stantinople^ and stopped at Pera till the feast of St. John 
Baptist.^ We had no idle time of it however, for we were 
engaged in a most weighty controversy with the Patriarch 
of the Greeks and their whole Council in the palace of St. 
Sophia. And there God wrought in us a new miracle, giving 
us a mouth and wisdom which they were not able to resist ; 
for they were constrained to confess that they must needs be 
schismatics^ and had no plea to urge against their own con- 
demnation except the intolerable arrogance of the Roman 
prelates.' 

^ Thence we sailed across the Black Sea, and in eight days 
arrived at Gaffa, where there are Christians of many sects. 
Prom that place we went on to the first Emperor of the 
Tartars, TJsbec, and laid before him the letters which we 
bore,* with certain pieces of cloth, a great war-horse, some 
strong liquor,^ and the Pope^s presents. And after the 

^ 24th June 1339. 

' Five years before this two bishops had oome from Borne to argue the 
point with the Patriarch. The latter was in great trouble, for the public 
mind was excited on the matter, and he was himself "unaccustomed to 
public speaMng," whilst he knew most of his bishops to be grossly igno- 
rant and incapable. {NiceplMri Oregorice Hist. Byzant., x, 8). No wonder 
that Marignolli carried all before him with antagonists so painted by 
their own friends. 

Mandeville relates how, to Pope John XXII's invitations to come 
nnder his authority, the Greeks "sent back divers answers, amongst 
ethers saying thus : ' We believe well that thy power is great upon thj 
subjects. We may not suffer thy great pride. We are not in purpose to 
fulfil thy great covetousness. The Lord be with thee ; for our Lord is 
-with us. Farewell ! And no othef answer might he have of them." 
(P. 136.) Many efforts were made to unite the churches from the time of 
Ifichael Palieologus, whose ambassador at the Council of Lyons in 1274 
acknowledged the Pope's supremacy, to the time of John PaleBologus, 
who in 1438 made a like acknowledgment. But these acts were never 
aecepted by the Greek Church or people. 

' The legates had letters from the Pope for Uzbek himself, for his eldest 
son Tanibek, and to a certain Franciscan, Elias the Hungarian, who was 
in favour with the latter. (See Wadding a» before; and Append, to 
M^otheim, Nos. 81, 85, 86.) 

* The word in Dobner is Cytiticam, which I can trace nowhere. That 
editor's note is : " Sen syihiiicain, i.e., liquorem causticum, vulgo roaoglio/* 

22 



338 BECOLLECnONS OF TBAVEL IN THE EAST, 

winter was over^ having been well fed^ well clothed^ loaded 
with handsome presents, and supplied by the King with, 
horses and travelling expenses, we proceeded to Abmalec 
[the capital] of the Middle Empire. There we bnilt a chnrch, 
bought a piece of ground, dug wells/ sung masses and bap- 
tized several ; preaching freely and openly, notwithstanding^ 
the fact that only the year before the Bishop and six other 
Minor Friars had there undergone for Christ's sake a glorious 
martyrdom, illustrated by brilliant miracles. The names of 
these martyrs were Friar Richard the Bishop, a Burgundian 
by nation. Friar Francis of Alessandria, Friar Paschal of 
Spain (this one was a prophet and saw the heavens open, 
and foretold the martyrdom which should befal him and his 
brethren, and the overthrow of the Tartar of Saray by a 
flood, and the destruction of Armalec in vengeance for their 
martyrdom, and that the Emperor would be slain on the third 
day afber their martyrdom, and many other glorious things) ; 
Friar Laurence of Ancona, Friar Peter, an Indian friar who 
acted as their interpreter, and Gillott, a merchant.' 

Towards the end of the third year after our departure from 
the Papal Court, quitting Armalec we came to the Ctollos 

etc. But {v9ot meana drink of the beer genus. The Venice MS. haa 
Tyriaeam, probably for Theriaeam, I imagine however that Dobner ia 
BubfltantiaUy right, and that something strong and sweet is meant. 
Bnbraqnis, nearly a centniy before, took with him for Usbek's ancestors 
vinwn muMeaUl, 

* "Ubi fecimua eeeleBiam, emiimus aream, fedmns fontes, eantevimuc 
miuat" etc. The fofdes are not very intelligible. Frof. Ennstmann 
suggests /ofUieiim(ItaL/ondaco) for fontes, which is possible, as that word 
is blundered in another passage of this MS. 

' On these Armalec martyrs see ante, p. 186 aeqq. The statement of 
Marignolli that their death took place the year before his arrival, appears 
to fix it to 1889, instead of 1840 or later as stated by ecclesiastical chroni- 
clers. Dobner goes eminently astray here, confounding these Franciscans, 
martyred in Turkestan in the fourteenth century, with those Franciscans 
who were martyred in J^j>an in the seventeenth, and whose formal 
canonization lately made so much noise. Accordingly he thinks it 
probable that Armalec was one of the Islands of Japan, and Saray 
another! 



BT JOHN DE^ MARIONOLLI. 339 

Kaoon^ i.e. to the Sand Hills thrown up by the wind. Before 
the days of the Tartars nobody believed that the earth 
was habitable beyond these^ nor indeed was it believed that 
there was any country at all beyond. But the Tartars by 
God's permission^ and with wonderful exertion, did cross 
them, and found themselves in what the philosophers call 
the torrid and impassable zone.^ Pass it however the Tar- 
tars did; and so did I, and that twice. 'Tis of this that 
David speaketh in the Psalms, 'Posuit desertum/ &c.^ After 
having passed it we came to Gambalec, the chief seat of the 
Empire of the East. Of its incredible magnitude, population, 
and military array, we will say nothing.^ But the Grand 
Kaam, when he beheld the great horses, and the Pope's 
presents, with his letter, and King Robert's too, with their 
golden seals, and when he saw us also, rejoiced greatly, 
being delighted, yea exceedingly delighted with everything. 



> It is not quite clear whether he intends that Cyollos Kagon (or Kagan 
in Yen. MS.) tigwifies Sancihills. Their position is evidently to be sought 
on the northern verge of the Gobi, which is his Torrid Zone, and pro- 
bably among those to the north-east of Kamil. Hereabouts indeed, in a 
Chinese work on Turkestan, we find repeated mention of the Sha-Shan 
or " Sand Mountains," from which flows one source of the Barkul Nur, 
nofrth of Kamil. (See Julien in N. Ann, des Voyages, 1846, iii, 37-44.) 
One of the reports translated in T^ Bussiana in Central Asia (London, 
1866, p. Ill), speaking of the desert says: "From this region (about 
Tarkand) it gradually widens as it runs eastward, where it forms the vast 
Gobi, devoid of all vegetation... where the sand is heaped up in such 
10117 ndges that the inhabitants give them the name of 'Gag* (moun- 
tain)." If this be no misprint we have here perhaps one elepient of the 
name used by Marignolli, and in the Turkish and Persian Ch6l, a desert, 
written by Yambery Tehbl and TchoU, we have perhaps the other. 

> " Poguit Desertum in etagna" (P«. cvi, our evil, 36). Probably his 
twice having past the Torrid Zone is explained rightly by Meinerfs sug- 
gestion that Marignolli regarded the Syrian Desert, which he crossed on 
his return to Europe, as only another part of the same belt of desolation. 
That the Torrid Zone was uninhabitable was maintained, as is well 
known, by Aristotle and many other philosophers. 

* The author's expression is, " de eujus magnitudine ineredibili etpopulo, 
ordine militum sUeatur," of which I greatly doubt my having given a cor- 
rect interpretation. 

22 2 



340 BEGOLLECTIOKS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

and treated us with the greatest honour.^ And when I en- 
tered the Kaam's presence it was in full festival vestments, 
with a very fine cross carried before me, and candles and 
incense, whilst Credo in TJnum Deum was chaunted, in that 
glorious palace where he dwells. And when the chaunt was 
ended I bestowed a full benediction, which he received with 
all humility. 

And so we were dismissed to one of the Imperial apart- 
ments which had been most elegantly fitted up for us ; and 
two princes were appointed to attend to all our wants. And 
this they did in the most Uberal manner, not merely as re- 
gards meat and drink, but even down to such things as paper 
for lanterns, whilst all necessary servants also were detached 
from the Court to wait upon us. And so they tended us for 
nearly four years,^ never failing to treat us with unbounded 
respect. And I should add that they kept us and all our 
establishment clothed in costly raiment. And considering 
that we were thirty-two persons, what the Kaam expended 
for everything on our account must have amounted, as well 

V« It IB pleasing to find that though our legate has no place in the 
Chinese Annals^ the " great horses" {deteirarii), which he took with him, 
hare. Under our year 1342 it is recorded that there were presented to 
the emperor horses of the kingdom of Fulang (Farang, Europe), of a race 
till then unknown in China. One of these horses was eleven feet six 
inches in length and six feet eight inches high, and was black all over, 
except the hind feet, which were white. This present was highly esteemed. 
(De MaUla, ix, 679, and GfauMl, Hiat. de Oentehis Can, etc.» p. 279.) Indeed 
Gaubil tells us in another work, " In the Imperial PaJace is preserved 
with care a picture in which Shunti, the last emperor of the Tuen dynasty, 
is represented on a fine horse, of which all the dimensions are detailed. 
It is remarked that this horse was presented to Shunti by a foreigner of 
the kingdom of France" (! No, P^re Qaubil, non a Franeia sed a Fran- 
quia /) See Tr.de la Chronol, Chin,, p. 186. This vast animal was surely 
the prototype of the Destrier, which Mr. Millais painted under Sir Ysen- 
bras some years ago. 

' AwnoB giMui gtMihtor, whilst a little below he spesks of residing in Cam- 
balec anfiM qwui hnfrtu . It is possible that the first expression includes 
the whole time up to his embarking for India, but it cannot be deter- 
mined. 



BT JOHK DE' HABIONOLLI. 841 

as I can calculate^ to more than fonr thousand marks. And 
we had many and glorious disputations with the Jews and 
other sectaries ;^ and we made also a great harvest of souls 
in that empire. 

The Minor Friars in Cambalec have a cathedral church 
immediately adjoining the palace^' with a proper residence 
for the Archbishop^ and other churches in the city besides^ 
and they hare bells too^ and aU the clergy have their sub- 
sistence from the Emperor's table in the most honourable 
manner. 

And when the Emperor saw that nothing would induce 
me to abide there^ he gave me leave to return to the Pope, 
carrying presents from him, with an allowance for three 
years' expenses, and with a request that either I or some 
one else should be sent speedily back with the rank of Car- 
dinal, and with full powers, to be Bishop there f for the 
office of Bishop is highly venerated by all the Orientals, 
whether they be Christians or no. He should also be of the 
Minorite Order, because these are the only priests that they 
are acquainted with ; and they think that the Pope is always 
of that Order because Pope Girolamo was so who sent them 
that legate whom the Tartars and Alans venerate as a saint, 
viz.. Friar John of Monte Corvino of the Order of Minorites, 
of whom we have already spoken.^ 

We abode in Cambalec about three years, and then we 

> Of the ancient settlement of Jews in China, said to have taken place 
in the third centnry b.c, though others name a later date, some notice 
will be fonnd in the J. B, Q. 8,, zxvii, 297. See also Silv, de Saey in 
Notieeg et ExtraiU, vol. iy, and Alvaro Semedo, Bel, della Cina, 1643, 
p. Id3, etc. 

s See the building of this mentioned^ by Archbishop John in his letter 
at p- 206. 

3 X cardinal never came to China till the early part of the last centuxy 
(MeaESEobafba), and his mission did not prosper. 

* 'Bj Pope GKrolamo he means Friar Jerome Musci, Bishop of Pales- 
trina^ elected Pope as Nicholas IV, and who sent John of Monte Corvino 
on his distant mission. Dobner, having taken up the notion that Carpini 
la meant, says "legendum InnocenUus;" but he is quite wrong. The 



842 BEC0LLBCTI0N8 OF TRAVEL IK THE EAST^ 

took our way through Makzi^^ with a magnificent provision 
for our expenses from the Emperor^ besides about two hun- 
dred horses ; and on our way we beheld the gloiy of this 
world in such a multitude of cities^ towns, and villages, and 
in other ways displayed, that no tongue can give it fit ex- 
pression./ 

And sailing on the feast of St. Stephen,^ we navigated the 
Indian Sea until Pahn Sunday, and then arrived at a very 
noble city of India called Columbuh,^ where the whole world's 

Tartars looked on the Pope as the people of India (according to the 
oommon story) used to look on John Company, viz,, as in a manner 
immortal. " QucBrebant enim de Magno PapA," says Babraqois, " ti etset 
iia Menex ticut audierune' (p. 278). 

1 Dobner's book has here and afterwards Mawn, bat this is probably 
from ignorance only. The Venice MS. has Manci and Mann plainly 
enough. 

3 Here the chronology of the journey calls for remark. The last pre- 
cise date afforded was St. John's Day, 1339. The succeeding winter is 
passed at the court of Uzbek. Supposing the party to quit Saraa in May 
1840, they would reach Armalec about September (see Pegolotti, pp. 285-6), 
and they did not quit that city till near the end of the third year from 
their leaving Avignon, viz., late in 1341. The journey from Armalec to 
Peking would occupy four or five months, but probably much more, as they 
appear (see ii^a, near the end) to have spent some time at KamiL 
Hence perhaps they did not arrive at Peking earlier than the latter part 
of 1342, but not later than that, as the Chinese record about the horses 
fixes the year. The St. Stephen's day (26th December) on which he sailed 
from Zayton could not have been earlier than that of 1346, but might 
have been later. Meinert takes the day ibr 2nd August {Stephen I, Pope 
and Martyr), but as Kunstmann justly points out, that would be no 
season for sailing from China. The latter fixes the date to 1347, as Easter 
fell late in 1348, and more time is thus allowed for the voyage to Mala- ^ 
bar. We will assume it so. 

* Bitter over hastily identifies Marignolli's Columbum with Columbo in 
Ceylon, and deduces that pepper was then a staple of that island (Erd- 
kunde, v, 688), though as the author says that the " whole world's pepper" 
was produced there, this interpretation would imply that none was pro- 
duced in Malabar, the Pepper Metropolis from time immemorial. Even 
Dobner is more judicious here, and concludes that Columbo is not meant, 
as the place is clearly placed by Marignolli on the continent. But then 
he continues, entirely losing this gleam of judgment, that it was in Nimbar 
(see note further on), and so could not be in Matahar, " adeoque in regno 
Indostan. Anfortassif urha Labor eit, judicium penes leetorem eeto" One 



BT JOHN DS' MABIGNOLU. 343 

pepper is produced. Now this pepper grows on a kind of 
vines^ which are planted jnst like in our vineyarcls. These 
vines produce clusters which at first are like those of the 
wild vine, of a green colour^ and afterwards are almost like 
bunches of our grapes^ and they have a^ red wine in them 
which I have squeezed out on my plate as a condiment. 
When they have ripened^ they are left to dry upon the tree^ 
and when shrivelled by the excessive heat the dry clusters 
are knocked off with a stick and caught upon linen cloths, 
and so the harvest is gathered. 

These are things that I have seen with mine eyes and 
handled with my hands during the fourteen months that I 
stayed there.^ And there is no roasting of the pepper, as 
authors have falsely asserted, nor does it grow in forests, but 
in regular gardens ; nor are the Saracens the proprietors but 
the Christians of St. Thomas. And these latter are the 
masters of the public steel-yard, from which I derived, as a 
perquisite of my office as Pope^s legate, every month a hun- 
dred gold faUy and a thousand when I left.^ 

CMi onlj say with Friar JordaxiTis, " V^onderfiil !" For farther remarks 
<m Columbmn, see note to Odort«, p. 71. 

Ptobably the name ahoold be rendered ColumMM as in the only nomina- 
tlTe I oan find, viz. in Jordanns's letter at p. 227. Bat I have followed 
the French editor of Jordanns's lf{ra6ilia in calling it Golumbam, and it 
18 not worth while to alter what may have authority which I have over- 
looked. 

^ Dor author afterwards calls -this time a year and four months. 

' As to the x>epper, Fr. Jbrdafiti«, p. 27, and IMi Bafuto, iv, 77. Mari- 
gnolli's denial of its growing in forests is probably a slap at the Beato 
Odorioo (see p. 74 onto); yet up to the present centnry there was a 
tzact on the Malabar coast oaJled " the Pepper Jungle" ^wi\aiM>W% Christ 
Re9€ar,, p. 111). Father Yincenzo Maria (Bome, 1672) still speaks of 
the Christians of St. Thomas as having the pepper chiefly in their 
iiaartila Dobuer, Meinert, and Eunstmann all strangely misunderstand 
*' qui habent stateram ponderis toHus mundi" as if it meant something 
about the Christians having a right to an export tax on the pepper. Yet 
in this vei)r Chronicle (Dohner, p. 164-5) they might have found a passage 
in which giatera can mean nothing but a steelyard. It is in foct used for 
the Italian atadera. So in a correspondence quoted ftirther on, one of the 
Florentine demands on the Sultan of Egypt is "ehe poatino tenere stadere 



344 BECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

There is a churcli of St. George there, of the Latin com- 
munion, at' which I dwelt.^ And I adorned it with fine 
paintings, and taught there the holy Law. And after I had 
been there some time I went beyond the glory of Alexander 
the Great, when he set up his column (in India). For I 
erected a stone as my landmark and memorial, in the comer 
of the world over against Paradise, and anointed it with oil ! 
Li sooth it was a marble pillar with a stone cross upon it, 
intended to last till the world's end. And it had the Pope's 
arms and my own engraved upon it, with inscriptions both 
in Indian and Latin characters. I consecrated and blessed 
it in the presence of an infinite multitude of people, and I 
was carried on the shoulders of the chiefs in a litter or palan- 
kin like Solomon's.* 

neUi loro fondachi" that they may have an anthorized steelyard in their 
&otorieB. The ralae of the/anom (Marignolli's/an) hasTaried so mnoh that 
it ifl difBcolt to estimate what the legate received in this way. Manden 
makes the fanam 2id. (Marco Polo, p. 656). In the beginning of last cen- 
tnry, Yisscher says the fanam of Cochin was about l^d., that of Calicut 6d., 
and that of Quilon 15d. Late in the same centuiy Friar Paolino states 
the Paliacat /anam at 9 8oua or 4|d., that of Tazgore or Calicut at 6d. or 
7d., and that of Madura at S^d. And Ibn Batuta (iv, 174) tells us that 100 
fanams were equal to 6 dinars, which would maJce the fanam nearly Sd. 
This last may be taken as probably about the value of our author's /an. 
So his monthly perquisite would be about £S : 6, and the present he re- 
ceived at parting ^3. If we may judge from the calculations based on. 
Ibn Batuta's statement of prices at Dehli in his time, the money would 
represent at least ten times as much wealth as at present. 

1 This church "Latinorum" was probably founded by Jordanus, and 
was possibly the same old church fatto al modo nostro mediocre which the 
Poringuese were taken to see on their first visit to Colom, though that 
was then entitled S. Maria (Bountuio, i, f. 146). Day indeed (Land of the 
PermaiiU, p. 4) mentions a church dedicated to St. George, within which 
may be seen a painting representing Qod the Father. But this is at Cur- 
ringhacheiTy, ten miles from Cochin, and could scarcely have been the 
church of our author. If Jordanus or any successor in the episcopate had 
survived at Columbum surely Marignolli would have alluded to the fact ? 
He says below in quitting the place " valrfacient fraMbue," which perhaps 
implies that there were friars there. 

' The Column or Columns of Alexander formed the subject of some 
legend that grew out of the memory of the altars on the Hyphasis. 
Imagination was dissatisfied with Alexander's turning back from India 



BY JOHN de' mabignolli. 345 

So after a year and four months I took leave of the 
brethren^ and after accomplishing many glorious i¥orks I 

Bcaroely entered — (does not one still feel disappointment every time the 
story is read ?) — and in defiance of history prolonged his expedition to 
the ends of the earth. We have seen before that the cave temples of 
Western India were ascribed to him {ante, p. 57) ; Tennent cites a Persian 
poem describing his journey to Ceylon and Adam's Peak {Ceylon, i, 606) ; 
whilst Friar Maoro's Map attributes to Alexander the chains that still 
add pilgrims in climbing that mountain. John of Hese likewise, in his 
imaginary travels, finds within a mile of the Mountain of Paradise another 
mountain, on which Alexander is said to have stood when he claimed 
tribute also fix)m Paradise. Earlier than these the versifying geographers 
in their apparent identification of £bZi« (the idea of which is Cape Comorin, 
though the name may have belonged to a more eastern promontory) with 
Aoraos, seem to indicate that in their notions Alexander had attained the 
furthest extremity of India. Thus Dionysius — 

*' rap^ rfp/jiora K«X/5os &i}t 

*H\i0aTos raxi^ourt 9wr4fifiaros oluvoiaw 

Ttfifycira fUM Koi ^crrcs ^rixAcfoiwiy 'AopytF,** — {Orb. Deeerip,, v. 1148.) 

Dobner indeed refers to a passage in the same author as speaking of the 
columns erected by Alexander on the ocean, but though otherwise appro- 
priate, it is of Bacchus that the geog^pher speaks ; it runs in the para- 
phrase of Eestus Avienus : 

" Oceani Eoi pnetenti denique Bacchus 
Littore, et extremi terrarum victor in or4 
Dudt laurigeroe post Indica beUa triumphos, 
Erigit et geminas telluris fine columnae." — (V. 1380.) 

Bat the most appropriate illustration is in a passage of Mandeville quoted 
by Meinert from a German edition, but which I do not find in Wright's : 
" So he set up his token there as far as he had got, like as Hercules did 
on the Spanish Sea towards the sunset. And the token that Alexander 
set up towards the sunrising, hard by Paradise, hight Alexander's Qades, 
and that other hight Hercules's Gades : and these be great Pillars of 
Stone, that stand upon lofty mountains, for an eternal Sign and Token 
that no man shall i>ass beyond those pillars." 

Was this pillar of MarignoUi's that which the Dutch chaplain Baldsus 
thus mentions : " Upon the rocks near the sea shore of Coulang stands a 
Stone Pillar, erected there, as the inhabitants report, by St. Gliomas ; I 
saw the Pillar in 1662." Three hundred years of tradition might easily 
swamp the dim memory of John the Legate in that of Thomas the 
Apostle. Mr. Day {Land of the PermauU, p. 212) tells us that this pillar 
stin exists, but Mr. Broadley Howard in a recent book {Christians ofSt. 
Tkamas, p. 9) says in reference to the passage of Baldffius just quoted : 
" Mr. D* Albedhyll, the Master Attendant at Quilon, told me that he had 
seen the pillar, and that it was washed away a few years ago." I wish 
•ome one would still look for it ! 



346 BECOLLSCTIONB OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

went to see the famous Qneen of Saba. By Iier I was 
honourably treated, and after some harvest of souls (for there 
are a few Christians there) I proceeded by sea to Setllan, a 
glorious mountain opposite to Paradise. And from Seyllan 
to Paradise, according to what the natives say after the tra- 
dition of their fathers, is a distance of foriy Italian miles ; so 
that, 'tis said, the sound of the waters falling from the foun- 
tain of Paradise is heard there.^ 



CHAPTEB COKCEBNING PARADISE. 

Now Paradise' is a place that (really) exists upon the earth 
surrounded by the Ocean Sea, in the regions of the Orient 
on the other side of Columbine India, and over against the 
mountain of Seyllan. 'Tis the loftiest spot on the face of 
the earth, reaching, as Johannes Scotus hath proven^ to the 
sphere of the moon ; a place remote from all strife, delect- 
able in balminess and brightness of atmosphere, and in the 
midst whereof a fountain springeth from the ground, pouring 
forth its waters to water, according to the season, the Para- 
dise and all the trees therein. And there grow aU the trees 
that produce the best of fruits ; wondrous fair are they to 
look upon, fragrant and delicious for the food of man. Now 
that fountain cometh down from the mount and falleth into 
a lake, which is called by the philosophers Euphirattes. 
Here it passes under another water which is turbid, and 
issues forth on the other side, where it divides into four 
rivers which pass through Seyllan; and these be their 
names :* 

1 A MS. of the fifteenth century in the Genoese Archives, from which 
extracts are given by Oraberg de Hemso, says that the Four fiivers flow 
down from Paradise with such a noise that the people who inhabit round 
about those parts are bom deaf ! {Aniiali di Geografia e di StaH$Hca, ii, 
App.) Akin to this is the myth of the dwellers in the extreme east hear- 
ing a tremendous noise made by the sun in rising (Carpini, p. 661). 

' See Introductory Notice to MarignoUi, p. 326. 

s Considering how rarely in reality a plurality of rivers have a common 



BY JOHN de' makignolli. 347 

floni^oe, BO rarely that in the discussions arising out of Captain Speke's 
great joomej, it has even been denied that such a thing exists in nature, 
it is remarkable how frequent is the phenomenon in the traditions of 
many nations, and there must be something in the idea attractive to 
man's imagination. 

The interpretation of the four rivers of Eden as literally diverging 
from one fount has long been abandoned by Catholics as well as F^teet- 
ants ; but in the middle ages, meeting perhaps that attraction to which 
allusion has been made, it was received to the letter, and played a large 
part in the geography both of Christendom and Islam; the possible 
traces of which remain stamped on the map of Taurus in the names of 
Sihun and Jihun given to the Sarua and the Pyramxu, (See Mcu'udi, i, 
264, 270.) The most prominent instance of the tradition alluded to is 
that in both Brahmanical and Buddhist cosmogony which derives four* 
great rivers of India, the Indus, the Sutlqj, the Gkmges, and the Sardha 
from one Holy Lake at the foot of Eilas. It ia also firmly believed by 
the Hindus that the Sone and the Nerbudda rise out of the same pool 
near Amarkantak. The natives were so convinced that there was a com- 
munication between the Jumna and the Saraswati, which flows towards 
the Sntl^, that an officer of the Bevenue Survey reported it to govern- 
ment aa a &ct, and my then chief (now M. General W. E. Baker) was 
desired to verify it. We found that the alleged communication was sup- 
posed to take place gupti gupH, i. e., in a clandestine manner I Hiwenth- 
sang relates that from the Dragon Lake on the high lands of Famer one 
stream descends to the Oxus, another to the Sita, which Bitter supposes 
to be the river of Cashgar, but which perhaps is the mystic source of the 
Hoang Ho. In a later form of the same tradition, reported by Bumes, the 
Oxus, Jaxartes, and Indus are all believed to rise in the Sirikul on Famer. 
The rivers of Cambodia, of Canton, of Ava, and a fourth (perhaps the Sal- 
wen) were regarded by the people of Laos as all branches of one river; a 
notion which was probably only a local adaptation of the Indian Buddhist 
tradition. A Chinese work mentioned by Klaproth describes the river of 
Siam as being a branch of the Hoang Ho. Even in the south of Kew Zea- 
land we find that the Maoris have a notion that the three chief rivers 
known to them issue from a common lake. These legendary notions so 
possessed travellers and geographers that they seemed to assume that the 
law of rivers was one of dispersion and not of convergence, and that the 
best natural type of a river system was to be found, not in the veins of a 
leaf, but in the body of a spider. Thus the Catalan map of 1375, in some 
respects the most remarkable geographical production of the Middle Ages, 
represents all the great rivers of Cathay as radiating from one source to 
the sea. The misty notions of the great African lakes, early gathered by the 
Portuguese, condensed themselves into one great sea, that fed the sources 
not only of the Nile but of the Niger, Congo, Zambesi, and several more. 
The Hindu myths suggested to map makers a great Lake Chimay in 
Tibet, from which dispersed all the great rivers of Eastern Asia ; Ferdi- 
nand Mendez Pinto declared, perhaps believed, that he had visited it, and 



348 BECOLLBCTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

Gton^ is that which cirdeth the land of Ethiopia where 
are now the negroes^ and which is called the Land of Prester 
John. It is indeed believed to be the Nile^ which descends 
into Egypt by a breach made in the place which is called 
Abasty. The christians of St. Matthew the Apostle are 
there^ and the Soldan pays them tribute on account of the 
river^ because they have it in their power to shut off the 
water, and then Egypt would perish.^ 

every atlas to the beginniiig of last oentury, if not later, repeated the 
fiction. A traveller of the seventeenth century, the general of his order 
and therefore perhaps no vulgar friar, says that he taw the Granges near 
Goa, where one of its branches entered the sea. And far more recent and 
distinguished geog^apheta have clung to the like ideas. Bitter more than 
half accepts the Chinese story of the Dragon Lake of Pamer. Buchanan 
Hamilton, who did so much for the g^graphy both of India and of Indo- 
China, not only accepted the stories of the Burmese regarding the radia- 
tion of rivers, but himself suggested like theories, such sjb that of an 
anafltomoeis between the Brahmaputra and the Irawadi ; whilst the old 
fancies of the African map makers have been revived in our own time. (See 
Strachey, in J. B. O. S., vol. xxiii, first paper; Ritter, Erdkunde, vii, 496; 
Bumea, iii. 180; Joum, AtioHque, ser. ii, tom. x, 415; In,, zi, 42; Burton, 
in /. B. O. S., xxix, 807; Blaeu'a Atlas, Amsterdam, 1662, vol. x; Coro^ 
nelli, Atlante Veneto, 1691, etc. ; Viaggi di P. Filxppo, etc., p. 230.) 

^ The Septuagint has Tti&p for the Nile in Jeremiah ii, 18, and in Bccle' 
siasticua, xxiv, 37; from the former passage the term was adopted in the 
Ethiopic books. Many Fathers of the Church thought Gihon passed 
under ground from Paradise to reappear as the Nile, and the other rivers in 
like fashion. Ludolf quotes many examples of what he justly calls this 
foolish story of Gihon and its subterranean wanderings. But such notions 
were not originated by the church ; for Pomponius Mela supposes the 
Nile to come under the sea from the antichthonic world, and other 
heathen writers believed it to be a resurrection of the Euphrates. {Ludo\f, 
i. c. 8, § 10-12, and CommeTit,, pp. 119, 120; Note by Letronne in Hwn- 
bolfe Examen Critique, etc., iii, 122, 123.) 

' For Ahasty in this paragraph the author probably wrote Abasey ; (the 
e and t are constantly confounded), the Abctaei of Polo, from the Arabic 
name of Abyssinia Hdbsh. Here again in the fourteenth century is 
Prester John in Africa (see ante, p. 182); as the Catalan Map and Sigoli 
also show him. 

This tribute alleged to be paid by the Soldan of Egypt to the King 

of Ethiopia or Abyssinia is mentioned by Jordanus also (Mirabilia, p. 40), 

and he names the reported amount as five hundred thousand ducats, 

though he omits the ground of payment. It is also spoken of by Ariosto : 

"Si dice ohe '1 Soldan Be dell' Egitto 



BT JOHN de' MABIQNOLU. 349 

The second lirer is called Phison^ and it goes through 
India^ circling all the land of Evilach^ and is said to go down 

A quel Be dk tribato e sta soggetto. 
Perch' h in poter di Ini dal cammin dritto 
Levare il Nilo e dargli altro ricetto^ 
£ i>er qneeto lascikr subito afflitto 
Di fame il Cairo e tutto quel distretto. 

Senapo detto h dai suddettd snoi ; 

Gli diciam Preeto o Preteianni noi." — Orl, Ftir,, zxxiii, 116. 

The qneetion will be found discussed in lAido\f (i,, o. viii, § 76-92, and 
Comment., pp. 180-132) Nwn Be9 Eabeninorum NUum divertere posnt n» 
in JEgypium fiiuU f He refers to the Saracenic history of El Macioi, 
in which we find it related that in the time of Michael, Patriarch 
of the Jacobites of Alexandria (who was elected in the year 1089, and 
ruled for nine years), " the Kile became excessively low, wherefore (the 
Sultan) Mostansir sent him (Michael) up to Ethiopia with costly presents. 
The king of the country sent out to meet him and received him with 
reverence, asking wherefore he bad come. And he then set forth how the 
great deficiency of the Nile in Egypt was threatening destruction to that 
land and its people. The king upon this ordered the cut that had been 
made to divert the waters to be closed, so that the water might again 
flow towards Egypt, seeing that the Patriarch had come so far on that 
account. And the Nile rose three cubits in one night, so that all the 
fields of Egypt received ample water and could be sown. And the Patri- 
arch returned with much credit to Egypt, and was loaded with gifts and 
hononra by the Prince Mustansir." {Histor, Saracen, a Oeorg. Elmaeino, 
by Mrpenius, Lug. Bat., 1625, B. iii, c. 8.) The story is (briefly) noticed in 
Herbelot under the word Nil, and is told much as by Elmacini from the 
History of Egypt by Wassaif Shah, who says the fiunine had lasted seven 
years when the report reached Egypt of the Nile's having been diverted 
{Nolieea et EBtraiUs, viii, p. 47) ; and also in Be Castro's Voyage of Stephen 
de Qama. He says the thing was much talked of among the Abys- 
sinians, and that it secured that people the privilege of passing through 
Egypt without paying tribute. (Asiley'M Voyages, i., 114.) Urreta, a 
Spanish Dominican writer, of whom Ludolf speaks with much contempt, 
says that the Pope wrote to Menas King of Ethiopia to turn off the Nile, 
and not to mind about the tribute of three hundred thousand sequins 
which he got from the Turk to keep it open. A certain Wanzlebius, 
having been desired by Duke Ernest of Saxony to investigate this mat- 
ter, reported that the Europeans in Egypt looked on the whole stoxy as 
an Abyssinian rhodomontade, but afterwards in 1677 he claimed to have 
found a letter from a king of Abyssinia threatening the Sultan with the 
diversion of the Nile. It is also noticed by Ludolf that Albuquerque is 
stated by his son to have seriously contemplated this diversion, and to 
have often urged King Emanuel to send him miners for the job (2^udo{f, 
Q.S., and the others quoted above). 

The legend is thus told as a fact also by Simon Sigoli, who travelled to 



350 BECOLLECrriONS OF TBIVEL IN THE EAST^ 

into Cathay^ where, by a change of name, it is called Cabo- 
HO&AN, i.e. Black Water, and there is foond bdellium and the 
onyx stone. I believe it to be the biggest river of fresh 
water in the world, and I have crossed it myself. And it 
has on its banks very great and noble cities, rich above all 
in gold. And on that river excellent craftsmen have their 
dwelling, occupying wooden houses, especially weavers of 
silk and gold brocade, in such numbers (I can bear witness 
from having seen them), as in my opinion do not exist in 
the whole of Italy. And they have on the shores of the river 
an abundance of silk, more indeed than all the rest of the 
world put together. And they go about on their floating 
houses with their whole families just as if they were on shore. 
This I have seen. On the other side of Caffa the river is 
lost in the sands, but it breaks out again and forms the sea 
which is called Bacuc, beyond Thana.^ 

Egypt, Sinai and Paleetinewith Leonardo Fresoobaldi and other Floien- 
tines in 1384 : "'Tia tnie that this soldan is obliged to pay a yearly ran- 
som or homage to Forester John. Kow this potentate Prester John dwells 
in India, and is a christian, and possesses many cities both of christians 
and of infidels. And the reason why the Soldan pays him homage is this, 
that whenever this Prester John chooses to open certain river Unices he 
can drown Cairo and Alexandria and all that country; and 'tis said that 
this river is the Nile itself ^#hioh rans by Cairo. The said sluices stand 
but little open, and yet the river is enormous. And so it is for this 
reason, or rather firom this apprehension, that the Soldan sends him 
eveiy year a ball of gold with a cross upon it, worth three thousand gold 
bezants. And the lands of the Soldan do march with those of this Prester 
John." (F. in Terra Santa, etc., Firenze, 1862, p. 202). 

1 Dobner has Chana (the c for t again), but the Venice MS. has the 
name right, Thana, i.e., A20V. In the confusions of this paragraph Man- 
gnoUi outdoes himself. He jumbles into one river the Phiaon, Ganges (or 
Indus), Wolga (or Oxus), Hoang-Ho and Yangtse Kiang, and then turns 
them all topey turvy. The Kara-SIuren, or Black Biver of the Tartars, 
as he correctly explains it, is well known to be the Tellow Biver of the 
Chinese. But it is not a river whose shores and waters are crowded with 
the vast population described, and his descriptions here appear to be 
drawn from his recollections of the Tangtse Kiang. The river lost in the 
sands is perhaps the Oxus, which he would probably pass on his way from 
Sarai to Almalig, but he may mean the Wolga which he saw at Sarai, 
and which has the best claim to be said to form the Sea of Baku, i.e., the 



BY JOHN DB' MAEIQNOLU. 351 

The third river is called Tygbis. It passes over against 
the land of the Assyrians^ and comes down near Ntneve^ 
that great city of three days* journey, to which Jonas was 
sent to preach; and his sepulchre is there. I have been 
there also^ and stopped a fortnight in the adjoining towns 
which were built out of the ruins of the city. There are 
capital fruits there^ especially pomegranates of wonderful size 
and sweetness, with all the other fruits that we have in Italy. 
And on the opposite side [of the river] is a city built out of 
the ruins of Nyneve, which is called Monsol.^ 

Between that river and the fourth, there is a long tract of 
country bearing these names; viz., Mesopotamia, i.e. the 
land between the waters ; Assyria, the land of Abraham and 
Job, where also is the city of Xing Abagarus, to whom Christ 
sent a letter written with his own hand, once a most fair and 
Christian city, but now in the hands of the Saracens. There 
also I abode four days in no small fear. 

We come lastly to the fourth river, by name Euphrates, 
which separates Syria, Assyria, and Mesopotamia from the 
Holy Land. When we crossed it we were in the Holy Land. 
In this region are some very great cities, especially Alep, in 

Caspian {Efkilia.,J'acien8 Mare Caspium, says Boger Bacon). How he 
connects the Caspian and the Earamuren is puzzling. The Chinese have 
indeed a notion that the sources of the Hoang-Ho were originallj in 
the monntains near Eashgar, whence their streams flowed into the Lop 
Nnr, and thence diving under ground, issued forth aa the Hoang-Ho. 
There was also an old notion that the waters of the country about Kara- 
shahr came from the Si-Hai or Caspian (Timkawtky, ii, 272) ; {Fo-koue-ki, 
p. 37 ; JuUen inN, A, dea Voyages, as quoted at p. 839). Something of 
these legends Marignolli may have heard, without quite digesting. 

On this passage, with an amusing sense of his own superior advantages, 
Dobner observes : " Here Marignola shows himself excessively ignorant of 
geography; but we must pardon him, for in his day geographical studies 
had by no means reached that perfection which they have attained now." 

^ The ruins opposite Mosul are those called Nabi Tunus and Eouyuigik, 
weQ known from Mr. Layard's excavations and interesting books. A 
sketch showing the tomb of Jonah mentioned in the text, will be found 
at p. 131, vol. i, of Nineveh and Us Remains. Bicold of Montecroce also 
mentions the traces and ramparts of Nineveh, and a spring which was 
called the Fount of Jonah. 



352 BECOLLBCTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

which there are many christians who dress after the Latin 
fashion, and speak a language very near the French ; at any 
rate like French of Cypras.^ Thence you come to Damascus, 
to Mount Lebanon, to Galilee, to Samaria, Nazareth, Jeru- 
salem, and to the Sepulchre of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Then follows a chapter G(mcerning the Trees of Faradisey from 
which I extract a few lines. 

[The trees] are there still in existence, as the Pantheon 
says ;' and this is shown by the fruits and leaves which are 
sometimes carried forth by those rivers, and are known by 
their medicinal virtue and fragrant odours. Nor is this in- 
credible j for in the adjoining provinces of India likewise 
there are trees which produce fruit of a marvellous kind 
every month.* 

From the chapter On the Transgression of our First Parents hy 
Temptation of the Serpent. 

And they took the leaves of the fig-tree or plantain,^ and 

^ " Loqutmiwr Ungnam qyuui OaUieam, seiUeet quasi de Cipro." 

** And Fronch she spake both fayro and fetisely, 
French of the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe« 
For French of Paris was to her unknowe." 

French no doubt was much spoken at Cyprus under the Lusignans. 

- The Ta'nXkefin is the Universal Chronicle, so called, by Godfrey of 
Yiterbo, an ecclesiastical writer who died in 1186. The work is to be 
seen in " CTermon. ScnpUymm, eta, TotniM AXUr, ex Bibl, Joannia Pistarii 
NidaHi, HanoT.^ 1618." It is a very prolix a£fair, beginning with De Divind 
Essentid ante omnem ereationem, and is largely interspersed with semi- 
doggrel hexameters and pentameters. 

' According to Masudi some leaves of Paradise covered Adam's body 
when cast out. These were scattered by the winds over India, and gave 
birth to all the perftimee of that country. He also bore with him wheat, 
and thirty branches of the trees of the Gburden, and from these come all 
our good fruits {French Trans.^ i, 61). St. Athanasius also accounts for 
the aromatics of India by the spicy breezes from Paradise a4Joining. 
(Opera, Paris, 1698, ii, 279.) 

* ** Fieui seu muaarum." That the leaves used for girdles by Adam and 
Eve were plantain leaves, is a Mahomedan tradition ; and it ia probably 
fr^m this that the plantain has been called a, fig in European languages, 
a name which seems to have little ground in any resemblance of the 
fruits, but which misled Milton perhaps to make the banyan the tree of 
the girdles. 



BY JOHN de' marignolli. 353 

made themselves girdles to hide their shame. . . . Then God 
pronounced sentence after the confession of their sin, first 
against the serpent that he should go upon his belly creep- 
ing on the earth (but I must say that I have seen many 
serpents, and very big ones too, that went with half the body 
quite erect, like women when they walk in the street, and 
very graceftd to look upon, but not to be sure keeping this 
up for any length of time). . . . 

And he made them coats of skins : so at least we com- 
monly have it, pelliceas, " of fur," but we should do better 
to read filiceas, " of fibre;" because they were no doubt of 
a certain fibrous substance which grows like net-work be- 
tween the shoots of the coco-palm;^ I wore one of these 
myself till I got to Florence, where I left it. And God for- 
bade Adam to eat of the Tree of Life. See, said He to the 
Angels, that they take not of the Tree of Life, and so live 
for ever. And straightway the Angel took Adam by the 
arm and set him down beyond the lake on the Mountain 
Seyllan, where I stopped for four months. And by chance 
Adam planted his right foot upon a stone which is there 
still, and straightway by a divine miracle the form of the sole 
of his foot was imprinted on the marble, and there it is to 
this very day. And the size, I mean the length, thereof is 
two and a half of our palms, or about half a Prague ell. And 
I was not the only one to measure it, for so did another 
pilgrim, a Saracen of Spain ; for many go on pilgrimage to 
Adam. And the Angel put out Eve on another mountain, 
some four short days' journey distant. And as the histories 
of those nations relate (and indeed there is nothing in the 
relation that contradicts Holy Scripture), they abode apart 
from one another and mourning for forty days, after whicli 
the Angel brought Eve to Adam, who was waxing as it were 
desperate, and so comforted them both.^ 

* " NargiUorum" from Pers. NargU, 

' The usual Mussulman tradition runs, that on the violent expulsion of 

23 



354 BKC0LLKCTI0N8 OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 



NABRATIVE CONCEBNIKO THE MOUNTAIN SETLLAN. 

Now, as our subject requires it, and as I deem it both 
pleasant and for some folks profitable, I propose to insert 
here an account of Seyllan, provided it please his Imperial 
Majesty ; and if it please him not he has but to score it out. 

First, then, it must be told how, and in what fashion I got 
there, and after that I will speak of what is to be found 
there. 

First, then, when we got our dismissal from the Kaam that 
mighty Emperor, with splendid presents and allowances from 
him, and as we proposed to travel by India, because the other 
overland road was shut up by war and there was no possi- 
bility of getting a passage that way, it was the Kaam's order 
that we should proceed through Manzi, which was formerly 
known as India Maxima. 

Now Manzi is a country which has countless cities and 
nations included in it, past all belief to one who has not seen 
them, besides great plenty of everything, including fruits 
quite unknown in our Latin countries. Indeed it has 30,000 
great cities, besides towns and boroughs quite beyond count. 
And among the rest is that most famous city of Gahpsay, 
the finest, the biggest, the richest, the most populous, and 
altogether the most marvellous city, the city of the greatest 
wealth and luxury, of the most splendid buildings (especially 
idol temples, in some of which there are 1000 and 2000 
monks dwelling together) that exists now upon the face of 
the earth, or mayhap that ever did exist ! When authors tell 
of its ten thousand noble bridges of stone, adorned with 
sculptures and statues of armed princes, it passes the belief 

oar parents and their tempter firom Paradise, Adam fell on the Mountain 
of Serendib, Eve at Jidda near Mecca, Eblis near Basrah, and the Ser- 
pent at Ispahan. Adam after long solitude and penitence was led by 
(hi.briel to Mecca and thence to the M9untaLn of Arafat (Beeognition), 
where he was reunited to Eve after a separation of two hundred years. 
{lyHerbelot: WeiVs Bib, Legends.) 



BY JOHN de' marionolli. 355 

of one who has not been there^ and yet peradyenture these 
authors tell no lie.' 

There is Zayton also^ a wondrous fine seaport and a city 
of incredible size, where our Minor Friars have three very fine 
churches, passing rich and elegant ; and they have a bath 
also and Skfondaco which serves as a depot for all the mer- 
chants.^ They have also some fine bells of the best quality, 
two of which were made to my order, and set up with all due 

1 Probably a reference to the accounts of Kingss^ or Hangcheu, by 
Polo and Odoric, see p. 113: ^ Bat hear what Dobner has to say on Cam- 
aay : " In our time Cambay^ the chief city of Gozerat, which on acoonnt 
of its size, wealth, and splenaonr, is often caUed the Indian Cairo. The 
ri^er Indus flows through the kingdom, so that MarignoUi was quite right 
in a preyious passage when he referred the Columns of Alexander to those 
parts, in imitation of which he put up another himself in the same quar- 
ter''! ! (p. 95.) 

' The original (in Dobner) reads : " habent tres eeclesias pulcherrimcts 
opiinuu et ditissimtu balneum fundatum omnium mercatorwn deposito- 
rium," Meinert and Eunstmann translate "ein gegtiftetes Bad," but this 
seems somewhat unmeaning, and I have assumed that fandatum should 
read Fvmdaeum {t for c again) in the sense of the Italian FondcLco, This 
was the word for a mercantile establishment and lodging house in a 
foreign country, nearly what we should call a fjEictory, and we find it stiU 
applied at Venice to the old foreign factories, though the common Italian 
dictionaries ignore this meaning of the word. In Sicily the word stiU 
means an inn, especiaUy one where the cattle and goods of traders are put 
up. It is borrowed from the Arabic Fandvlc, " a public hostel for traders 
where they put up along with their wares," and that again comes from 
the Chreek varSoxctoy. 

Pagnini {DeUa Decima, etc., ii, 89) gives a Florentine correspondence 
about a treaty of commerce with the Sultan of Egypt in the year 1422, 
in which the chief items of privilege to be demanded for the Florence 
merchants are under the heads of Fondaco, Chwreh, Bath, Steelyard. 
In the thirteenth century we find the King of Lesser Armenia grant- 
ing the Venetians at Mamistra " a fonddk to deposit their merchan- 
dise and property in." (Joum, Asiat,, ser. v, tom. xviii, 353.) In a treaty 
between Abuabdallah Mahomed, King of Granada, and the Genoese, in 
1278, it is provided that the latter shall have in all the king's cities 
Fundike in which to conduct their business, and these shall be allowed to 
have churches, baihs, oven, and warehouses (Not. et Extraits, xi, 28 ; see 
also Amari Dipt. Arab., pp. zxx, 88, 101). And in a treaty between Michael 
PalAologos and the Genoese, it is specified that the latter shall have in 
certain ports and islands logiami, palatium, ecdesiam, balneum, fumum et 
jardinum (Ducange, Hist, de Constantinople, App., p. 6). These quotations 

23 2 



356 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

form in the very middle of the Saracen commonity.^ One of 
these we ordered to be called Johannina, and the other 
Antonina. 

We quitted Zayton on St. Stephen's day, and on the 
Wednesday of Holy Week we arrived at Columbnm. Wishing 
then to visit the shrine of St. Thomas the Apostle, and to 
sail thence to the Holy Land,^ we embarked on board certain 
jnnks, from Lower India^ which is called Minnbar.^ We en- 
countered so many storms, commencing from St. George's 
Eve, and were so dashed abont by them, that sixty times and 
more we were all but swamped in the depths of the sea, and 
it was only by divine miracle that we escaped. And such 
wondrous things we beheld ! The sea as if in flames, and 
fire-spitting dragons flying by,^ and as they passed they slew 
persons on board the other junks, whilst ours remained un- 

show that the EecUtia, Balnewn, Fundoeum, and DepotUariwn ran natatally 
together. It was also the Mahomedan practice to attach a caravanserai 
(i.e. a/ondoeo) to convents of Kalandars or Darweshee (see Er sinned t Baher, 
p. 216). 

^ He has evident glee in mentioning the setting up of the bells in the 
middle of the Mahomedan quarter of Zayton ; the Mahomedans holding 
bells in abomination and not allowing them under their rule. Ibn 
fiatuta*s account of his terror and dismay, when he first heard bells 
jangling on all sides of him at CaiFa, is amuBing (ii, 357). 

* Meinert suggests that Terrom Sandam here is a clerical error for 
Terram Babam. This is probable, for the first is hardly intelligible. 

' " A»cendenie$ Junkos" This is perhaps the oldest item in the Franco- 
Indian vocabulary. It occurs also in Odoric (see ante, p. 73). The 
Catalan Map gives a drawing and description of these ships called Inehi 
(probably for Iftcfci) with their bamboo sails. Quoth Dobner: *'Vooem 
banc in nullo gloesariorum Medii ^vi reperio. Yerosimillime navigia 
ejuncii teaBta intelliguntur, quorum usum Indis esse plures affirmant," 
etc. (p. 96). It is more singular that the same mistake should have been 
made by Amerigo Vespucci in his curious letter to one of the Medici 
giving an account of the voyage of De Ghuna, whose party he had met at 
Cape Verde on their return from India. (See Baldello Boni, II MiUone, 
p. Iviii.) 

* This correct reading is from Venice MS., Dobner having Nimbar. See 
note on Minibar at p. 74. 

^ This is very like Fahian*s account of a storm in the same sea, only 
the Chinese friar's is the more sober (Fo-koue-ki, ch. xl). 



BY JOHN de' mariqnolli. 357 

touched, by God^s grace, and by virtue of the body of Christ 
which I carried with me, and through the merits of the glori- 
ous Virgin and St. Clare.^ And having brought all the 
Christians to penitential mourning, even whilst the gale still 
blew we made sail, committing ourselves to the Divine 
guidance, and caring only for the safety of souls. Thus led 
by the Divine mercy, on the morrow of the Invention of the 
Holy Cross^ we found ourselves brought safely into port in a 
harbour of Seyllan, called Pebvilis,^ over against Paradise. 
Here a certain tyrant, by name Coya Jaan,^ a eanuch, had 
the mastery in opposition to the lawful king. He was an 
accursed Saracen, who by means of his great treasures had 
gained possession of the greater part of the kingdom. 

At first he put on a pretence of treating us honourably, 
but by and bye, in the politest manner and under the name 
of a loan, he took from us 60,000 marks, in gold, silver, silk, 
cloth of gold, precious stones, pearls, camphor, musk, myrrh, 
and aromatic spices, gifts from the Great Kaam and other 
princes to us, or presents sent from them to the Pope. And 

^ St. Clara was the townswoman, diaciple, and feminine reflexion of 
St. FranciB. 

s 3rd May. 

' Meinert and Eonstmann translate PervilU as if it were a Latin ad- 
jective. Bat the name is perfectly Geylonese in character; e,g. PadaviUe 
and PeriaviUe are names found in Tennent's Map, though not in positions 
suited to this. From the expression " over against Psxadise," and the 
alter mention of Cotta, we may see that it was somewhere not fiur from 
Columbo. And a passage in Pridham enables me to identify the port as 
Barbexyn, otherwise called Bebtjwala, near Bentotte and the mouth of 
the Kaluganga. This is now a large fishing village, with a smaU bay 
haying an anchorage for ships, and a considerable coasting trade, (flit to- 
riedl, etc.. View of CeyUm, pp. 619-20.) 

* Coya or Coja Joan represents, I presume, Khwdja Jahdn. Kow this 
was the title of the Wazir of Dehli ; and Ibn Batuta, in reference to a 
time only a year or two before our author's arrival in Ceylon, mentions 
as an instance of the arrogance of Nasiruddin the new Sultan of Maabar, 
that he ordered hig Wazir and admiral to take the same title of Khwdja 
Jahdn. Others may have followed the fashion, for it seems probable that 
our author's accursed Saracen was that " Wazir and Admiral J&lasti" 
whom Ibn Batut« found in power at Colnmho. (Jbn Jiatuta, iv, 185 ; 204.) 



358 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

80 we wer« detained by this man, with aU polifceneas as I 
8aid^ for four months. 

On that very high mountain [of which we have spoken], 
perhaps after Paradise the highest mountain on the face of 
the earth, some indeed think that Paradise itself exists. But 
this is a mistake, for the name shews the contrary. For it 
is called by the natives Zindan Baba; baba meaning 
'father* (and mama 'mother*) in every language in the 
world; whilst Zindan is the same as 'Hell*, so that Zindan 
Baba is as much as to say 'the hell of our father*, implying 
that our first father when placed there on his expulsion from 
Paradise was as it were in hell.^ 

That exceeding high mountain hath a pinnacle of sur- 
passing height, which, on account of the clouds, can rarely 
be seen. But God, pitying our tears, lighted it up one 
morning just before the sun rose, so that we beheld it glow- 
ing with the brightest flame. In the way down from this 
same mountain there is a fine level spot, stiU at a great 
height, and there you find in order, first the mark of Adam*s 
foot ; secondly, a certain statue of a sitting figure with the 
left hand resting on the knee, and the right hand raised and 
extended towards the west ; lastly, there is the house (of 
Adam) which he made with his own hands. It is of an ob- 
long quadrangular shape like a sepulchre, with a door in the 
middle, and is formed of great tabular slabs of marble, not 
cemented, but merely laid one upon another.^ 

1 I cannot find any trace of this name in the books about Ceylon. 
Zinddm (Pers.) signifies " a dnngeon," and seems often applied to build- 
ings of mysterious antiquity. Thus a tower-like building of huge blocks 
of marble, which exists among those remains north of Persepolis which 
are supposed to mark the site of Pasargads, is caUed Zinddn^Suleiman, 
" Solomon's Dungeon." And another relic, described by Sir H. Bawlinson 
in his paper on the Atropatenian Ecbatana, has the same name. It is 
very likely that the sepulchre-Uke building which Marignolli describes 
below, was called Zinddn-i-Baba by the Persian visitors. Baba la correctly 
applied to Adam. Thus Ibn Batuta mentions that of the two roads to 
the Peak one was Tarik Baba (Adam's Boad), and the other Tarik Mama 
(Eve's Road) (iv, p. 180). 

^ It is clear from all this tliat Marignolli never ascended tho Peak. 



BY JOHN DE^ MARIQNOLLI, 359 

t 

It is said by the natives^ especially by their monks who 
stay at the foot of the mountain^ men of very holy life though 
without the faith/ that the deluge never mounted to that 
pointy and thus the house has never been disturbed.^ Herein 

Indeed he does not seem to have dreamt of mounting that "cocutnen 
tupereminens" as he calls it, bat thanks Qod for a glimpse of it merely. 
The footmark that he saw therefore was not the 'footmark which has been 
the oligect of pilgrimage or curiosity for so many ages. Indeed the length 
of half an ell which he ascribes to it (ante, p. 358) does not agree with 
that of the peak footstep. The length of the latter is given by Ibn 
Batata at eleven spans, by Marshall at five feet six inches, by Tennent 
at about five feet ; all in fair accordance. The "planities altissima puU 
ehra" on which Marignolli places the footmark, and apparently also a 
lake (see ante, p. 353), seems to correspond with the "puleherrima quadam 
planiiies" and lake of Odoric. I suspect that the place visited by both 
Franciscans was some Buddhist establishment at one of the stages 
between the coast and Adam's Peak, where there was a model of the 
sacred footstep, such as is common in Buddhist countries, and such as 
Tennent states to be shown at the Ala Wihara at Gotta, at Komegalle, 
and elsewhere in Ceylon. It is true that there was a second " genuine" 
footstep shown in Fahian's time (end of fourth century), but this was 
" to the north of the royal city," apparently Anur%japura> and out of 
Marignolli's way, even if extant in his time. I see from Ptidham and 
Tennent that there appears to be a model of the foot at Palabadulla, one 
of the resting places in ascending from Batnapnra, which would be the 
route likely to be followed by Marignolli, considering the pofdtion of the 
port where he landed. Probably the exact site of which our author speaks 
might still be identified by remains of the ancient building which he calls 
Adam's Dungeon. Knox also calls the footmark " about two foot long," 
so that perhaps he was misled in the same manner as Marignolli (p. 3). 

For the history of the Peak see Sir J. £. Tennent's Ceylon. Perhaps he 
has not noticed that it ia represented pictoriaUy in Fra Mauro's Map, 
with the footstep at the top of it. It must also be added that Tennent 
quotes from the Aaiaiic JoumtU, that the first Engliehman to ascend 
Adam's Peak was Lieut. Malcolm in 1827. If the date is right, the fact 
is wrong. For the late Dr. Henry Marshall and Mr. S. Sawers ascended 
together in 1819, and both published accounts of their ascent. To be 
sure they were both Scotchmen ! 

The etatua quadam sedens, etc., is of course a Buddha. 

* " Qui etant ad pedes montis ttinefide eanetissimcB vita" 1 am doubtfol 
of the meaning. 

s Tennent mentions that the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch, and 
also an Arabic Pentateuch in the Bodleian, make the Ark rest on the 
mountains of Serendib or Ceylon (i, 652). Bicold di Montecroce says 
that the Indians denied that Noah's fiood had reached to them, but they 
lied, for he had noticed as a fact that all the rivers that descended from 
Ararat flowed towards the Indian Ocean. {Peregrinat. Quatuor, p. 122.) 



360 BBCOLLECTIONS OP TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

they put their dreams in opposition to Holy Scripture and 
the traditions of the saints ; but indeed they have some 
plausible arguments to urge on their side. For they say that 
they are not descended either from Cain or from Seth, but 
from other sons of Adam, who [as they allege] begot other 
sons and daughters. But as this is contrary to Holy Scrip- 
ture I will say no more about it. 

I must remark, however, that these monks never eat flesh, 
because Adam and his successors till the flood did not do so. 
They go naked from the loins upwards, and unquestionably 
they are very well conducted. They have houses of palm- 
leaves, which you can break through with your finger,^ and 
these are scattered up and down in the woods, and full of pro- 
perty, and yet they live without the slightest fear of thieves, 
unless perchance there come vagabonds from foreign parts. 

On the same mountain, in the direction of Paradise, is a 
great fountain,^ the waters of which are clearly visible at a 
distance of good ten Italian miles. And though it breaks 
out there, they say that its water is derived from the Fountain 
of Paradise. And they allege this in proof : that there some- 
times turn up from the bottom leaves of unknown species in 
great quantities, and also Ugn^-aloes, and precious stones, 
such as the carbuncle and sapphire, and also certain fruits with 
healing virtues. They tell also that those gems are formed 
from Adam^s tears, but this seems to be a mere figment.' 
Many other matters I think it best to pass over at present. 

CONCERNING ADAM^S GARDEN AND THE FRUITS THEREOF. 

The garden of Adam in Seyllan contains in the first place 
plantain trees which the natives call figs.^ But the plantain 

1 " Pafisala, 'fi dweUing of leaves/ describes the house of a Buddhist 
priest to the present day." {Hardy's Eastern Monachism, p. 129.) 
9 A cascade, I suppose, perhaps the Seetlagunga torrent noticed below. 
B See Odoric, p. 98. The Chinese also had this story (Tmnent, ii, 610). 
* See note at p. 352. We find from Pridham that " Adam's Garden" 



BY JOHN DE* MAKIONOLLI. v 361 

lias more the character of a garden plant than of a tree. It 
is indeed a tree in thickness^ having a stem as thick as an 
oak^ bat so soft that a strong man can punch a hole in it 
with his finger, and from such a hole water will flow. The 
leaves of those plantain trees are most beautiful, immensely 
long and broad, and of a bright emerald green ; in fact, they 
use them for tablecloths, but serving only for a single din- 
ner. Also new-bom children, after being washed and salted, 
are wrapt up with aloes and roses in these leaves, without 
any swathing, and so placed in the sand. The leaves are 
some ten ells in length, more or less, and I do not know to 
what to compare them (in form) unless it be ta elecampane. 
The tree produces its fruit only from the crown ; but on one 
stem it will bear a good three hundred. At first they are 
not good to eat, but after they have been kept a while in the 
house they ripen of themselves, and are then of an excellent 
odour, and still better taste ; and they are about the length 
of the longest of one's fingers. And this is a thing that I 
have seen with mine own eyes, that slice it across where you 
will, you will find on both sides of the cut the figure of a man 
crucified, as if one had graven it with a needle point.^ And 

is the subject of a gexmine legend stiU existiiig. At the torrent of Seetla- 
gunga on the way to the Peak, he tells us : " From the circumstance that 
Tarions fruits have been occasionallj carried down the stream, both the 
Moormen and Singalese believe, the former that Adam, the latter that 
Buddha had a fruit garden here, which still teems with the most splendid 
productions of the East, but that it is now inaccessible, and that its ex- 
plorer would never return." (HisL, Polit, and Stat, Aect, of Ceylon, p. 613.) 
1 MandeviUe gives a like account of the cross in the plantain or " apple 
of Paradise" as he calls it, and so do Frescobaldi and Simon Sigoli in 
their narratives of their pilgrimage in 1384 ; who also like MarignoUi 
compare the leaves to elecampane (Firenxe, 1862, pp. 32, 160). The cir- 
cumstance is also alluded to by Paludanus in the notes to JUnschoten't 
VoyageM (p. 101). Padre F. Yincenzo Maria says that the appear- 
ance was in India that of a cross merely, but in Phoenicia an express 
image of the crucifix, on which account the Christians of that country 
never cut the fruit but broke it (Viaggio, etc., p. 350). Old Gerarde ob- 
serves on this subject : " The Crosse I might perceive, as the form of a 
Spred-£gle in the root of Feme, but the Man I leave to be sought for by 



362 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST^ 

it was of these leaves that Adam and Eve made themselves 
girdles to cover their nakedness. 

There are also many other trees and wonderful fruits there 
which we never see in these parts^ such as the N argil. Now 
the Nargil is the Indian Nut. Its tree has a most delicate 
bark^ and very handsome leaves like those of the date-palm. 
Of these they make baskets and com measures ; they use 
the wood for joists and rafters in roofing houses ; of the 
husk or rind they make cordage ; of the nutshell cups and 
goblets. They make also from the shell spoons which are 
antidotes to poison. Inside the shell there is a pulp of some 
two fingers thick^ which is excellent eatings and tastes al- 
most like almonds. It bums also^ and both oil and sugar 
can be made from it. Inside of this there is a liquor which 
bubbles like new milk and turns to an excellent wine.^ 

They have also another tree called Amiuran,^ having a 
fruit of excellent fragrance and flavour^ somewhat like a 
peach. 

There is again another wonderful tree called Chakebaruhe,^ 
as big as an oak. Its frait is produced from the trunk and 
not from the branches, and is something marvellous to see, 

those that have better eyes and better judgment than myselT' (p. 1515). 
And Bheede : " TransTersim secti in came nota magis ftisca sea ni&» 
yelat signo cruds interstincti, ac punctnlis hinc inde nigrioantibas con- 
spersi." {Horitu Malabarieus, i, 19.) 

I He apparently confounds the coconnt milk with the toddy, which is 
the sap of the tree drawn and fermented ; a mistake which later travellera 
have made. 

' The Mango (Am or Amha). I do not know how the word AmburaniM 
which he uses is formed. There is a tree and frait in Malabar with a con- 
siderable resemblance to the mango (perhaps a wild Mang^) called ^fa6a- 
Idun (Rheede Horiu$ Malabar., i, 91). 

> The Jack ; a good accoant of it. Cidke Baruhe is the Shaki Barki of 
Ibn Batata ; concerning whic. Eee Jardanus, p. 13. P. Yincenzo Maria 
also calls the best kind of Jack Qiaeha Barca (Viag., p. 855). Baruhe how- 
ever comes nearer to Waracha, which Knox states to be one Singalese 
name of the Jack (Ed. 1691, p. 14). Saltan Baber compares the Jack- 
frxiit to a haggis, " Yoa woald say/' quoth he, " that the tree was hong 
all roand with haggises !" (p. 325). 



BT JOHN DE' MABIQNOLLI. 363 

being as big as a great lamb^ or a child of three years old. 
It has a hard rind like that of our pine-cones^ so that you 
have to cut it open with an axe ; inside it has a pulp of sur- 
passing flavour^ with the sweetness of honey and of the best 
Italian melon; and this also contains some five hundred 
chesnnts of Uke flavour^ which are capital eating when 
roasted. 

I do not remember to have seen any other fruit trees^ such 
as pears^ apples^ or figs^ or vines^ unless it were some that 
bore leaves only and no grapes. There is an exception^ 
however^ at the fine church of St. Thomas the Apostle^ at 
the place where he was Bishop. They have there a little 
vinery which I saw^ and which supplies a small quantity of 
wine. It is related that when he first went thither he used 
to carry about with him a Uttle wine for masses (as I did 
myself for the space of nearly two years) ; and when that 
was done he went to Paradise^ into which he found his way 
by the help of Angels^ and carried away with him some of 
the g^pes, the stones of which he sowed. From these grew 
the vines which I saw at that place^ and from them he made 
the wine of which he stood in need. Elsewhere there are 
vines indeed, but they bear no grapes, as I know by ex- 
perience. The same is the case with melons and cucumbers, 
and indeed I saw no eatable potherbs there, unless it be an 
exception that I saw whole thickets of basil. KiJ 

These then are the trees in Adam's garden. But of what 
tree was the fruit that he ate I cannot tell ; yet might I guess 
it to be of the citron,^ for it is written. 



' Jpae lignum tunc noiavit 
Dampna ligni ut $olverei,* 



* " De eedro" This word is ambiguous, but it is evidentlj the citron 

and not cedar, from what follows. The quotation is from the liymn 

Pakqe lingua olobiosi, which is sung in the Boman Church at matins 

on Passion Sunday, thus : 

" De parenH$ protoplasH 
FraudefactA condolens, 
Quando pomi noxialU 
In necetn mortu rwU, 



364 EKCOLLECTIONS OP TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

Now there were used, it must be observed, iu makiiLg the 
cross, palm wood, oUve wood, cypress wood, and citron wood, 
and the last is the only one of the four that can be alleged 
to bear a fruit which is good to eat and pleasant to the eyes. 
And these really appear to be the woods of the cross in that 
which belongs to our Lord the Emperor Charles ; whatever 
'people may say about the plantain tree (which is called also 
a fig tree) and its exhibiting the image of the crucifix ; at 
the same time I don't mean to commit myself to any pre- 
judgment of the matter. But as regards the fruit before 
mentioned, there is a certain Hebrew gloss on that proverb 
of Bzekiel's, *' Pat/res comederunt uvam acerbam et denies 
jiliorum obstupuerunt/^ which needs notice. Where our 
version has Paires the original Hebrew has Adam. Now 
this word is written sometimes one way and sometimes 
another. For Adam is written one way when it signifies 
parents, or man and woman, as in Genesis when 'tis said 
'' Vocavit nomen eorum Adam'' in the plural; and it is written 
with other letters when it signifies a man only. Just as we 
say on the one hand hie et hoic homo, and on the other hand 
hie vir (though I don't mean to say that we use diacritical 
marks and inherent vowels like the Hebrews). So also Sem 
is written sometimes with a Zade, and sometimes with a 
Samech ; and Abram sometimes with an Aleph and some- 
times with a He, the signification varying accordingly. So 
then 'Adam comederunt uvam a^cerbam' [has been understood 
of our first father] . But this interpretation is not approved 
by our divines, for there was no vinewood in the cross. The 
same remark may be made regarding the fig tree for which 

Ipse lignum tone notavit 
Damna ligni ut solveret. 

• 

Hoc optM noBtra aalutis 
Ordo d^oposeerat 
Multiformis proditoris 
Ars ut artem pelleret, 
Et medelam ferret inde 
Uoutis unde Iwaerat.** 



BY JOHN de' mariqnolli. 365 

the sons of Adam in Seyllan stand up^ and also regarding 
the plantain (though it is highly probable that our parents 
made their aprons of its leaves^ seeing that they be so big) . 
As for the olive and the date^ though they are 'good for food' 
nobody ever suggested their being the forbidden fruit. Yet 
there was palm wood in the cross^ as is clearly seen in the 
reliques belonging to the Emperor; at least that is my 
opinion. Yet that can hardly be if the story be true that 
Godfrey of Viterbo tells in his Pantheon.^ For he says that 
when Adam was waxing old and infirm, he sent his son Seth 
to Paradise to seek the promised oil of mercy. The angel 
warden of ^Paradise said : 'The time is not yet; but take 
thou these branches of olive, citron, and cypress, and plant 
them ; and when oil shall be got from them thy father shall 
get up safe and sound.' So Seth returned, and found his 
father dead in Hebron. Wherefore he twisted together 
those three branches, and planted them above the body of 
Adam, and straightway they became one tree. And when 
that tree grew great it was transplanted, first to Mount 
Lebanon, and afterwards to Jerusalem. And at Jerusalem 
to this day exists a monastery of the Greeks on the spot 
where that tree was cut down. The hole whence it was cut 
is under the altar, and the monastery is called in Hebrew 
'The Mother of the Cross' from this circumstance. The tree 
was made known to Solomon by means of the Queen of Saba, 
and he caused it to be buried under the deep foundations of 
a tower. But by the earthquake that took ^lace on the 
birth of Christ, the foundations of the tower were rent, and 
the tree discovered. It was from it that the pool called 
Probatica acquired its virtues. 

> The stoxy here related of Seth is told in some of Godfrey's yersee of 
a " younger son of Noah called Hiontius." 



366 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN TITE BAST, 

CONCERNINO THE CLOTHING OP OUR FIRST PARENTS. 

And the Lord made for Adam and his wife coats of skins 
or fur, and clothed them therewith. But if it be asked, 
whence the skins ? the answer usually made is, either that 
they were expressly created (which savours not of wisdom !) ; 
or that an animal was slain for the purpose (and this is not 
satisfactory, seeing that 'tis believed the animals were at 
first created only in pairs, and there had been no time for 
the multiplication of the species). Now then I say, without 
however meaning to dogmatize, that for coats of far we 
should read coats of jSyre. For among the fronds of the 
Nargil, of which I have spoken above, there grows a sort of 
fibrous web forming an open network of coarse dry filaments. 
Now to this day among the people there and the Indians^ it 
is customary to make of those fibres wet weather mantles 
for those rustics whom they call camalls,^ whose business it is 
to cany burdens, and also to carry men and women on their 
shoulders in palankins, such as are mentioned in Canticles, 
^Ferculum fecit sibi Salomon de ligni^Libani,' whereby iBineajit 
a portable litter, such as I used to be carried in at Zayton and 
in India. A garment such as I mean, of this eamall cloth, 
(and not camel cloth) I wore till I got to Florence, and I 
left it in the sacristy of the Minor Friars there. No doubt 
the raiment of John Baptist was of this kind. For as regards 
ca/meVa hair it is, next to silk, the softest stufi* in the world, 
and never coftdd have been meant. By the way (speaking 
of camels), I once found myself in company with an infinite 
multitude of camels and their foals in that immense desert 
by which you go down from Babylon of the Confusion to- 
wards Egypt by way of Damascus ; and of Arabs also there 
was no end ! Not that I mean to say there were any camels 

1 Dobner has Judeoa, which I take to be an error for Indoa, 
' Hhamdl (Ar,), a porter or bearer. The word is still commozily applied 
to palankin bearers in Western India. 



BY JOHN de' mabignolli. • 367 

in SejUan; but there were innumerable elephants. And 
these thongh they be most ferocious monsters seldom hurt a 
foreigner. I even rode upon one once^ that belonged to the 
Queen of Saba I That beast really did seem to have the use 
of reason — ^if it were not contrary to the Faith to think so. 



^ 



CONCEBNIKG THE FOOD OP OUE F1B8T PAEENTS. 

Our first parents^ then^ lived in Seyllan upon the fruits I 
have mentioned^ and for drink had the nulk of animals. 
They used no meat till after the deluge^ nor to this day do 
those men use it who call themselves the children of Adam. 
Adam^ you know^ was set down upon the mountain of 
Seyllan^ and began there to build him a house with slabs of 
marble^ etc.^ as has been already related. At that place 
dwell certain men under religious vows^ and who are of sur- 
passing cleanliness in their habits ; yea of such cleanliness 
that none of them will abide in a house where anyone may 
have spit j and to spit themselves (though in good sooth 
they rarely do such a thing) they will retire a long way, as 
well as for other occasions. 

They eat only once a day, and never oftener ; they drink 
nothing but milk or water; they pray with great propriety 
of manner; they teach boys to form their letters, first by 
writing with the finger on sand, and afterwards with an iron 
style upon leaves of paper, or rather I should say upon leaves 
of a certain tree. 

In their cloister they have certain trees that difier in 
foliage from all others. These are encircled with crowns of 
gold and jewels, and there are lights placed before them, and 
these trees they worship.^ And they pretend to have received 

' These were doubtless Peepul trees representing the celebrated tree 
of Baddh-Oaya, of which a shoot has been cherished at Anorajapura for 
twenty centuries (see Tennent, i, 343; ii, 614). Such trees are maintained 
in the oonrtyard of nearly every wihara or temple in Ceylon as objects of 
▼eneration (Hardy'a Eastern Monachiam, p. 212 ; Knox, p. 18). It is diffi- 



368 RECOLLECTIONS OP TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

this rite by tradition from Adam, saying that they adore 
those trees because Adam looked for future salvation to come 
from wood. And this agrees with that verse of David's, 
*Dicite in gentibus quia Dominvs regnabit in ligno/ though 
for a true rendering it would be better to say curahit a 
ligno,^ 

These monks, moreover, never keep any food in their house 
till the morrow. They sleep on the bare ground ; they walk 
barefoot, carrying a staff; and are contented with a frock 
like that of one of our Minor Friars (but without a hood), and 
with a mantle cast in folds over the shoulder ad niodurn 

cult to account for the strange things that Marignolli puts into the 
mouths of the Buddhists. Probably he communicated with them thxough 
Mahomedans, who put things into their own shape. The Buddha's Foot of 
the Ceylonese monks was the Adam's Foot of the Mahomedans, hence by 
legitimate algebra Buddha=Adam, and Adam may be substituted for 
Buddha. The way in which Herodotus makes the Persians, or the Pheni- 
cians or Egyptians, give their versions of the stories of lo and Europa and 
other Greek legends, affords quite a parallel case, and probably originated 
in a like cause, viz., the perrersions of ciceroni. We may be sure that 
the Persians knew no more of lo than the Sing^ese Sramanas did of 
Adam and Cain. (See Herod,, i, 1-5 ; ii, 54, 55, etc.). 

1 The quotation is from a celebrated reading of Paalm xcvi, 10 (in the 
Vulgate, xcv, 10), respecting which I have to thank my friend Dr. Kay, of 
Bishop's College, Calcutta, for the following note : 

" The addition a ligno (which is not in the Vulgate, i,e, Jerome's "Gkdli- 
can Psalter") is from the old Vulgate, which was made in Africa in the 
fijst or second century, and was used by Tertullian, St. Augustine, etc. 
It was no doubt through St. Augustine that the rendering was handed 
down to your friend Marignolli. 

" Justin Martyr says (and it was not denied by Trypho) that hth |^Xov 
occurred in the lxx. It is not known I believe in any MS. now existing ; 
and the inference drawn is that Justin had been misled by certain copies 
in which some pious marginal annotation had been introduced by later 
copyists into the text." Dr. Kay adds the following quotation by BeUar- 
mine from Fortunatus : 



" Impleta aunt q%UB ceeinit 
David fideli carmine, 
Dicens, De nationibus 
Begnavit a ligno Deus." 

I may add since writing the above that copious remarks on this reading 
of the Psatm are to be found in Notes and Queriet, 2nd series, viii, pp. 
470, 516 seq. 



BY JOHN de' marignotjj. •" 369 

Apostolonnn,^ They go about in procession every morning 
begging rice for their day's dinner. The princes and others 
go forth to meet them with the greatest reverence, and 
bestow rice npon them in measure proportioned to their 
numbers ; and this they partake of steeped in water, with 
coco-nut milk and plantains.^ These things I speak of as 
an eye-witness ; and indeed they made me a festa as if I 
were one of their own order.^ 

There follow Chapters concerning the MuUvpUcaUon of the Human 
Bacsy The Offerings of Gain gmA Ahely etc., etc,, to the end of the 
first section of his book, which he terms Thearchos. These 
chapters do not contain anything to our purpose except a few 
slight notices here and there, which I shall now extract. Thus 
of Cain he says : 

If we suppose that he built his city after the murder of 
Abel there is nothing in this opposed to Scripture, unless so 
far that it seems to be implied that he never did settle down, 
but was always a vagabond and a fugitive. This city of his 
is thought to have been where now is that called Kota in 
Seyllan,* a place where I have been. After he had begotten 
many sons there he fled towards Damascus, where he was 
shot by the arrow of Lamech his descendant in the seventh 
generation ; and there, hard by Damascus, his sepulchre is 
shown to this day.^ 

1 This use of the phrase satisfactorily illustrates the alia apoatolica 
which Yarthema so often uses. See Jones and Badger's Varthema (Hak. 
8oc.)« pp. 78, 112, etc. 

' " Liteam in aqua eomedunt cwn laete nargiUorunt et musis" 

* A most accurate account of the Buddhist monks as they may be seen 
today in Burma, and I presume in Ceylon. What Marignolli saw he 
describes very correctly; his interpreters are, probably, therefore respon- 
sible for the stuff he says he heard. 

* The author curiously oyerlooks Gen. iv, 17. Eotta, or (Buddhisto- 
classically) J&yawardanaptira, near Columbo, is first mentioned as a royal 
residence about 1314, but it again became the capital of the island in 
1410, and continued about a century and a half. It appears to be repre- 
sented as such in the great Map of Fra Mauro, under the name of Cotte 
CivUas, 

* This legend of Lamech shooting the aged Cain in a thicket, by mis- 

24 



370 RECOLLECTIONS OP TRAVEL IN THE EAS^, 

In the next passage also he seems to be speaking of Hebron 
from personal knowledge : 

And the story goes that Adam mourned the death of his 
son Abel for a hundred years, and desired not to beget any 
more sons, but dwelt in a certain cave apart from Eve, until 
by command of an angel he rejoined her, and begat Seth. 
Then he separated himself from the generation of evil doers, 
and directed his course towards Damascus, and at last he 
ended his days in Ebbon, and there he was buried, some 
twenty miles from Jerusalem. And the city was called Arba, 
i.e* of the four, because there were buried there Adam the 
chief, then Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, in the double cave that 
is in Ebron. And there the Patriarchs and other holy 
Fathers were afterwards buried, and Joseph also when he 
was brought up out of Egypt. 

To Seth, he says. 

Succeeded his son Enoch, who began to call upon the 
name of the Lord. This is believed to mean that he first 
instituted the practice of addressing God in audible prayers, 
and that he founded a religious discipline and peculiar rule 
of life, such as is followed to this day (they say) by the 
Bragmans, and by the monks of Seyllan, though these have 
turned aside to idolatry and to the worship of a tree, as we 
have related. . . . 

.... And the sons of Adam in Seyllan adduce many proofs 
that the flood reached not to them. And this is one of the 
chief, that in the eastern part of the country there are a 
number of roaming vagabond people whom I have seen my- 
self, and who call themselves the sons of Cain. Their faces 
are huge, hideous, and frightful enough to terrify anybody. 
They never can stay more than two days in one place, and 

take for an animal, and then killing the youth who had pointed out the 
game to him, seems to have been invented by the Hebrews as an expla- 
nation of the saying of Lamech in Genesis, iv, 23. It is the subject of a 
curious firesco in the Campo Santo at Pisa. 



BY JOHN DB* MARIGNOLLI. 371 

if they did they would stink so that nobody could endure 
them. They seldom show themselves, but yet they are given 
to trade. Their wives and children, as frightful goblins 
as themselves, they carry about upon donkeys.^ Yet St. 
Augustine and the mass of theologians deem it absurd to 
suppose that any should have escaped the Deluge unless in 
the aik. • . . 

.... And the ark grounded in the seventh month on a 
mountain of Armenia, which is near the Iron Gates in the 
Empire of Uzbek, and is called Ararat in the Lesser 
Armenia. 

Next we come to the Second Age^ and the beginning of the 
Second Book which is called Monarchos. 

From the first chapter, which treats Of the DistribuHon of the 
Earth a/numg the Sons ff Noahy I extract some passages : 

Noah therefore under the command of God delivered in- 
structions to his sons about maintaining divine service in the 
worship of the One God by sacrifices, about the multiplication 
of offspring, and the division of the earth, that they might 
replenish it, and live in peace after his death. And he de- 
siring a quiet life for his remaining days, reserved for himself 
the Isle of Cethym [Chittim] now called Cyprus.^ Shem 
the firstborn, as king and priest after his father, obtained 
half of the world, i.e., all Asia the Great, extending from the 
White Sea beyond Hungary, where now are the Wallachians,' 

> Here he speaks of the Veddahs, or Aborigines of Ceylon. Compare 
Tennent's description : " Miserable objeots^ active but timid, and athletic 
though deformed, with large heads and misshapen limbs. Their long 
bhusk hair and beards fell down to the middle in uncombed lumps, they 
stood with their faces bent towards the ground, and their restless eyes 
twinkled upwards with an expression of nneasiness and apprehension.... 
The children were unsightly objects, entirely naked, with misshapen 
joints, huge heads and protuberant stomachs; the women, who were 
reluctant to appear, were the most repulsive specimens of humanity I 
have ever seen in any country" (ii, 450). 

> Where, says Marignolli in another passage, " he planted a vineyard, 
which belongs at this day to the Archbishop of Nicosia. ( Dohner, p. 109.) 

> " Olaehi" But what White Sea is meant, that lies beyond Hungary 

242 



372 



RECOLLECTIONS OP TRAVEL IK THE EAST, 



in a skaight line over all the empire of Uzbek> Katay, the 
Indies, and Ethiopia to the virorld^s end. 

The other half was divided between the other two brothers. 
Cham had Africa (including the Holy Land)^ by Carthage 
and Tonis^ to the world's end. Japhet the younger had 
Europe where we are now, that is to say, all on this side 
from Hungary, and all on this side from Rome,^ including 

where the Wallachians are P The Caspian, the Sea of Marmora, the Medi- 
teiranean, the BaJtio, hare all daims to the title of the White Sea, but 
none of these will do, and what we caU the White Sea seems too remote 
from Hungary and WaUachia. There was indeed a Great Hungary, and 
a Qreat WaUachia recognized towards the Ural. (See Roger Bacon's 
Opus Majus, Venice, 1760, p. 173.) Fra Mauro has a Mar Bianeho repre- 
sented as a hirge lake in this quarter ; whether it stands for Lake Ladoga, 
the White Sea, or the Baikal (as Zorla thinks), would be difficult to say, 
so compressed is his northern geography; but it is most likely that it 
means whatever Mangnolli means by the same expression. Indeed a 

glance at Fra liauzo's Map 
makes Marignolli's division 
of the eaHh much more in- 
telligible. The only modifi. 
cation required is that Man- 
gnolli conceives Ethiopia as 
running*out eastward, to the 
south of the Indian Ocean, 
as remote Africa does in 
the geography of Edrisi and 
other Arab writers, as well 
as that of Ptolemy and 
the g^grapher of Bavenna. 
Make this modification and 
then you will see how one 
half of the hemisphere is 
divided into Europe and 
Africa, whilst the other is Asia, in which ." a straight line" may be drawn 
from the White Sea^ passing successively through the empire of Uzbek, 
Cathay, the Indies, Ethiopia, and the World's End ! 
^ " Jfiicam ubi est Terra Saneta" 
^ Twnuium, which I venture to correct to Timmum. 
s Dobner prints it " scilicet ah Ungaria, Cytra, et Soma," treating all 
three as proper names apparently. I suspect it should be " scilicet ab 
UngariA citr^ et Bomania," meaning perhaps from Hither Hungary, viz., 
our modem Hungary as distinguished from the Great Hungary of note (3) 
snpra. 




BY JOHN DB* MARIGNOLLI. 373 

Germany^ France^ Bohemia^ Poland and England^ and so to 
the world's end. 

The next chapter is concerning Worship after the Floods a large 
portion of which is worthy of translation : 

Shem was anxious to maintain the worship of the true 
God, and his history we shall now follow. In the second 
year after the flood he begat Arfaxat, who in turn begat 
Elam, from whom the noble race of the Alans in the East is 
said to have sprung. They form at this day the greatest and 
noblest nation in the world, the fairest and bravest of men.^ 
*Tis by their aid that the Tartars have won the empire of the 
east, and without them they have never gained a single im- 
portant victory. For Chinguis Gaam, the first king of the 
Tartars, had seveniy-two of their princes serving under him 
when he went forth under God's providence to scourge the 
world. . . . Arfaxat the son of Shem, at the age of thirty-five 
begat Sela or Sale, by whom India was peopled and divided 
into three kingdoms. The first of these is called Manzi, the 
greatest and noblest province in the world, having no paragon 
in beauty, pleasantness, and extent. In it is that noble city 
of Campsay, besides Zayton, Cynkalan, Janci,* and many 
other cities. Manzi was formerly called .Cyn, and it has to 
this day the noble port and city called Cynkalan, i.e. ^'Great 
India'' [Great China], for kalan signifies great. And in the 
Second India, which is called Mykibab there is Cynkali, 
which signifieth ''Little India" [Little China], for kali is 
Little.^ 

' " Major et nobiUor natio mundi et homines pulchriores et fortiores," 
Compare with the deecription by Anmuanus Marcellinns of the Alans in 
his time : " Proceri autem Alani poane sunt omnes et pnlchri, crinibas 
mediocriter flavis, ocolorom temperate torvitate terribile^ et armorom 
levitate yelooes" (zzzi, 2). 

* Janci is doubtless Yangchen, see note to Odoric, p. 123. 

* On Cynkalan or Canton and Cynkali or Cranganore, see notes to 
Odoric, pp. 106 and 76. As regards Cranganore it may be added that it 
seems to have been one of the most ancient capitals of Malabar, and in 
some of the ancient copper deeds appears to be called Muyiri-Kodu, 



37 1 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

The second kingdom of India is called Mynibar,^ and 'tis 
of that country that St. Augustine speaketh in treating of the 
Canine Philosophers, who had this name of Canine because 
they used to teach people to do as dogs do, e.g. that a man 
should never be ashamed of anything that was natural to him.' 
They did not, however, succeed in persuading these people 
even that sons might without shame bathe before their 
fathers, or let their nakedness be seen by them.^ 

It is in this country that lies the city of Columbum, where 
the pepper grows, of which we have already spoken. 

The third province of India is called Maabar, and the 
church of St. Thomas which he built with his own hands is 
there, besides another which he built by the agency of work- 
men. These he paid with certain very great stones which I 
have seen there, and with a log cut dovm on Adam's Mount 
in Seyllan, which he caused to be sawn up, and from its saw- 
dust other trees were sown. Now that log, huge as it was, 
was cut down by two slaves of his and drawn to the sea side 
by the saint's own girdle. When the log reached the sea 
he said to it, ' Go now and tarry for us in the haven of the 
city of Mirapolis.'* It arrived there accordingly, whereupon 

which a writer in the Madras Journal indicates as perhi^s identifying it 
with the classical Muzirx»(?). It is now almost a deserted place, but the 
ancient line of its Bi^as still exists (Day, p. 11). In connexion with 
Marignolli's interpretation of Cynkali it is somewhat curioas that Abdur- 
razzak tells us the people of the neighbouring city of Calicut were known 
by the name of Chini Bacha^dn, " Sons of the Chinese" or " Chinese Tonng 
Ones." There is no Persian word kali, " little." The nearest explanation 
that I can find for Marignolli's etymology is the Arabic kdUl, " little, 
small, moderate" (Richardson). 

< Here and where it occurs just before, Dobner has Nymhar, bat the 
Venice MS. has correctly Mynibar. See note at p. 74. 

' See Augustine, De Civitaie Dei, xiv, 20. 

3 Here the author refers to the remarkable decency of the Hindus in 
such matters, which may well rebuke some who call them " niggers." 
"Among the Lydians," says Herodotus, *'and indeed among the bar- 
barians generally, it is reckoned a deep disgrace, even to a man, to be 
seen naked" (i, 10). 

* Mirapolis is a Grecized form of Mailapur, Moliapur, or, as the Catalan 



BT JOHN D£^ MABIONOLLI. 375 

the king of that place with his whole army endeavoured to 
draw it ashore^ but ten thousand men were not able to make 
it stir. Then St. Thomas the Apostle himself came on the 
ground, riding on an bas, wearing a shirt, a stole, and a 
mantle of peacock's feathers, and attended by those two 
slaves and by two great lions, just as he is painted, and 
called out 'Touch not the log, for it is mine I ' 'How,' quoth 
the king, 'dost thou make it out to be thine?' So the 
Apostle loosing the cord wherewith he was girt, ordered his 
slaves to tie it to the log and draw it ashore. And this being 
accomplished with the greatest ease, the king was converted, 
and bestowed upon the saint as much land as he could ride 
round upon his ass. So during the day-time he used to go 
on building his churches in the city, but at night he retired 
to a distance of three Italian miles, where there were num- 
berless peacocks^. . . . and thus being shot in the side with 
an arrow such as is called friccia,^ (so that his wound was 
like that in the side of Christ into which he had thrust his 
hand), he lay there before his oratory from the hour of com- 
plines, continuing throughout the night to preach, whilst all 
his blessed blood was welling from his side; and in the 
morning he gave up his soul to God. The priests gathered 
up the earth with which his blood had mingled, and buried 
it with him. By means of this I experienced a distinct 
miracle twice over in my own person, which I shall relate 
elsewhere.' 

Map haa it, Ifirapor, the place Bince called San Thom^, near the modem 
Madraa. Mailap^aim means or may mean Peacoek-Tovm. A snbvrb still 
retains the name Mailaptir. It is near the shore, aboat three miles and 
a half soath of Fort St. George, at the mouth of the Sydrapetta Rirer. 

1 There is an evident hiatos here, thongh not indicated as sachin the 
copies. MarignoUi probably meant to relate, as Polo does (iii, 22), how 
the sa^nt being engaged in prayer in the middle of the peafowl, a native 
aiming at one of them shot him. 

* Meinert has here " mit einem PfeiU, indiaeh Frieda gewinnt" Bat it 
is no IndUeh, only the Italian Frec€yi=Fl4ehe. 1 do not know why the 
word is introduced. 

He dcyss not in this work. 



376 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

Standing miracles are, however, to be seen there, in 
respect both of the opening of the sea, and of the peacocks.^ 
Moreover whatever quantity of that earth be removed from 
the grave one day, just as much is replaced spontaneously 
against the next. And when this earth is taken in a potion 
it cures diseases, and in this manner open miracles are 
wrought both among Christians and among Tartars and 
Pagans.^ 

^ " Tarn de apertiane maris quam de pavonibus." There is nothing 
before about this opening of the sea, and the meaning is dark. John of 
Hese has a foolish story about St. Thomas's tomb being on an island in 
the sea, and that evexy year a path was laid dry for fifteen days for the 
pilgrims to pass through the sea. But Marignolli who had been at the 
place could not mean such stuff as this. Maffei howcTer mentions that 
St. Thomas, in erecting a cross at Meliapor, which was then ten leagues 
from the sea (!), prophesied that when the sea should reach that vicinity 
white men should come from the world's end and restore the law which 
he had taught. Perhaps there is an allusion to such a tradition here. 
There is also a curious Tamul legend bearing upon this which is cited in 
Taylor's Catalogue BaiaonnS of Or. M88, (Madras, vol. iii, p. 372). MaUa- 
pur was anciently inhabited by Jainas. One had a dream that in a few 
days the town would be overwhelmed by the sea. Their holy image was 
removed further inland, and three days later the old town was swallowed 
up. The temples were then reestablished in a town called Mailamana- 
gara, where exactly the same thing hi^ipened again. It is added that 
tradition runs in reforence to the whole coast from San Thom^ to the 
Seven Pagodas, that extensive ruins exist beneath the sea and are some- 
times visible. 

* The mention of Tartars here is curious, and probably indicates that 
the Chinese ships occasionally visited Mailapur. The Chinese are con- 
stantly regarded as Tartars at this time. 

The Roman Catholic ecclesiastical travellers and hagiologists seem to 
have striven who should most expand the missionary travels of Thomas the 
Apostla. According to an abstract given by Padre Vincenzo his preaching 
began in Mesopotamia, extended through Bactria, etc., to China, " the 
States of the Great Mogul"(!) and Siam : he then revisited his first con- 
verts, and passed into Germany, and thence to Braeil, " as relates the 
P. Emanuel Xobriga," and from that to Ethiopia. After thus bringing 
light to Asia, Europe, America, and Africa, the indefisktigable Apostle 
retook his way to India, converting Socotra by the way, and then 
preached in Malabar and on the Coromandel coast, where he died as here 
related. 

It is a somewhat remarkable circumstance in relation to the alleg^ 
mission of Thomas to India, that wliilst the Apocryphal Acts of the 



BY JOHN de' marignolli. 377 

That king also gave St. Thomas a perpetual grant of the 
public steelyard for pepper and all aromatic spices^ and no 

Apostles, ascribed to Abdias, Bishop of Babylonia, relate that before he 
yisited that part of India where he was killed, he had in another region 
of India converted a king called Gondophams, a king's name nearly 
identical with this (Qondophares), has in recent times become known 
from the Indo-Scythian coins discovered in N. W. India. The strange 
legend ran that this king Gandaphoros sent to the West a certain mer- 
chant named Abban to seek a skilled architect to bnild him a palace. 
Whereupon the Lord sold Thomas to him as a slave of Hifi who was 
expert in such work. After leaving Gundopharos Thomas went to the 
country of a certain King Meodeus {Mahcideva f)', where he was eventually 
put to death by lances. The story which Marignolli tells of the great log 
survived for many generations, and is related in much the same way by 
Maffei and by Linschoten towards the end of the sixteenth century, and 
again by the Carmelite Padre Vincenzo late in the seventeenth. It was 
supposed to be alluded to among other things in the mystic inscription 
which BUiTOunded the miraculous cross on St. Thomas's Mount. And 
strange to say (}asparo Baldi relates something like a duplicate of the 
miracle which he declares he witnessed, and which occuired for the 
benefit of the Jesuits when in sore need of long beams for a new church 
at San Thom^. 

The spot where Thomas is believed to have been slain is, according 
to Heber, at the " Little Mount," a small rocky knoll with a Boman 
Catholic church upon it (now " Church of the Besurrection*'), and where 
a footmark of the Apostle in the rock is I believe stUl exhibited, close to 
Marmalong Bridge, on the Sydrapetta river, adjoining the suburb still 
called Mailapor. The " Great Mount" is an insulated hill of granite some 
two miles further up on the south side of the river, with an old church on 
its summit, built by the Portuguese in 1651, but now the property of the 
Catholic Armenians. I believe it is or was under the altar of a church on 
the latter site that the miraculous cross existed which was believed to 
have been cut in the rock by Thomas himself, and to exhibit various 
annual phenomena, sometimes sweating blood, which betokened grievous 
calamities. " These wonders began," says P. Vincenzo, with aaneta aim- 
plicitiu, '*some years after the arrival of the Portuguese in India." 
Alexander Hamilton however says that tradition assigned the Great 
Mount as the scene of the martyrdom. 

The Padre Vincenzo " would not wonder if that were true" which John, 
Patriarch of the Indies, was said to have declared to Pope Calixtus, viz., 
that St. Thomas every year appeared visibly and administered the sacra- 
ment to his Indian Christians. John of Hese has got a stoiy of this 
kind too. 

In the beginning of the sixteenth century Barbosa found the churoh of 
St. Thomas half in ruins and grown round with jungle. A Mahomedan 
fakir kept it and maintained a lamp, Tet in 1504, which is several 



378 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

one dares take this privilege from the Christians but at the 
peril of death.^ I spent four days there ; there is an ezceU 
lent pearl fishery at the place. 

• ••••'<■ 

Now to say something of the monstrous creatures which 
histories or romances have limned or lied about^ and have 
represented to exist in India. Such be those that .St. 
Augustine speaks of in the Sixteenth Book De Giuitate Dei ; 
as^ for example, that there be some folks who have but one 
eye in the forehead ; some who have their feet turned the 
wrong way; some alleged to partake of the nature of both 
sexes, and to have the right breast like a man^s, the left breast 

years earlier than Barbosa's voyage, the Syrian Bishop Jaballaha, who 
had been sent by the Patriarch to take charg^e of the Indian Christians, 
reported that the House of St. Thomas had begun to be inhabited by 
some Christians, who were engaged in restoring it. 

The Portuguese have a curious history of the search for the bones of 
St. Thomas by a deputation sent by the Viceroy Duarte Menezes in 1522, 
under orders from King John III. The narrative states circumstantially 
that the Apostle's bones were found, besides those of the king whom he 
had converted, and an inscription commemorating the building of the 
church by St. Thomas, etc. The bones were eventually removed to Goa. 
Tet older tradition in the West asserted positively that Thomas was 
buried at Edessa. 

There are numbers of poor native Christians at Madras now. Most of 
the men who man the mat&la or surf-boats are such. Have they come 
down from St. Thomas's time, or who are they ? Does anybody know ? 
(See P. VinciMMo Maria, Viaggi, pp. 132-136 ; Assemanni, pp. 32 and 450 ; 
Linschotm, p. 28 ; Oaaparo BaHn, f. 86 ; Kircher, China Illu^trala, p. 53 ; 
Heber^s Journal ; Barbo$a in Bamuno, i, f. 315 ; HamilUm's New Account of 
the E. Indiee, 1744, i, 359 ; Fahrieiue, Collection of Apocryphal books of 
New Testament (proper title mislaid), pp. 691, 699 ; Bcinaud in Mem, de 
I'Aead. dee Jnac, (1849) xviii, p. 95 ; Mafei, Historia Indiea, h viii ; Faria 
y Sou8a*B Portvtguese Aeia, pt. iii, c. 7.) 

^ One of the old copper grants, which are claimed by the Malabar 
Christians as the charters of their ancient privileges, contains a passage 
thus interpreted in the Madras Journal for 1844, p. 119 : " We have given 
as eternal possession to Iravi Corttan, the lord of the town, the brokerage 
and due customs of all that may be measured by the para, weighed by the 
balance, stretched by the line, of all that may be counted or carried,... 
salt, sugar, musk, and lamp-oil, or whatever it be, namely within the 
river mouth of Codangulor" (Cranganore) etc. 



BY JOHN de' marignolli. 379 

like a woman's ; others who have neither head nor mouthy 
but only a hole in the breast. Then there are some who are 
said to subsist only by the breath of their nostrils ; others a 
cubit in height who war with cranes. Of some 'tis told that 
they Kve not beyond eight years, but conceive and bear five 
times. Some have no joints; others lie ever on their backs 
holding up the sole of the only foot they have to shade them ; 
others again have dog's heads. And then poets have in- 
vented ypotamuses and plenty of other monsters. 

Concerning all these St. Augustine concludeth either that 
they exist not at all, or if they do exist they have the use of 
reason, or are capable of it. All men come from Adam, and 
even if they be natural monstrosities still they are from 
Adam. Such monstrosities are indeed bom among ourselves 
from time to time^ and a few also in those regions ; but then 
they amount to a good many if you take what are bom from 
the whole family of man.^ Such is the case (as he exemplifies 
the matter) with the different sorts of hunchbacks, with men 
who have six fingers, and many others of like character.* So 
the most noble Emperor Charles IV brought from Tuscany 
a girl whose face, as well as her whole body, was covered 
with hair, so that she looked like the daughter of a fox !^ 

^ St. Augustine's chapter is headed : " An expropagine Adam velfiliorum 
Noe giMBdam genera hominum monstroaa prodierint ?** After mentioning a 
number of the aUeged monsters, such as are detailed here, and some of 
which he says were painted in mosaic in the Maritima Platea at Carthage, 
he comes to the conclusion cited by Marignolli. (De Civitate Dei, xvi, 8.) 

^ According to Bicd in Trigautius {De Christiana Ewped, apud 8inas, 
1617, p. 94) many in the southern provinces of China " had two nails 
upon the little toe of either foot, a thing noticed in all the people of 
Cochin-China, their neighbours, and perhaps an indication that they had 
all formerly six toes." These six-toed men occur also in India occasion- 
ally. I had a servant with this wealth of toes, and his name (Changa) 
was a sort of punning allusion to the peculiarity. 

3 This is mentioned by Matteo Villani, who says that when the empe- 
ror was at Pietra Santa, on his return from his coronation at Rome, there 
was presented to him a female child of seven, all woolly like a sheep, as 
if with a wool badly dyed of a red colour, and covered with this to the 
extremities of the lips and cyoUds. The empress, mar%'elling at such a 



380 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

Yet is there no such race of hairy folk in Tuscany : nor was 
her own mother even^ nor her mother's other children so, 
but like the rest of ns.^ Such too was that monster whom 
we saw in Tuscany, in the district of Florence, in our own 
time, and which a pretty woman gave birth to. It had two 
heads perfectly formed, four arms, two busts, perfect as far 
as the navel, but there running into one. There was one 
imperfect leg sticking out of the side, and only two legs 
below, yet it was baptized as two persons. It survived for 
a week. I saw also at Bologna, when I was lecturing there, 
a ewe which bore a monstrous lamb of like character, with 
two heads and seven feet. Tet we do not suppose that such 
creatures exist as a species, but regard them as natural 
monstrosities. So doth God choose to show forth his power 
among men, that we may render thanks to Him that He 
hath not created us with such deformities, and that we may 
fear Him ! 

But I, who have travelled in all the regions of the Indians, 
and have always been most inquisitive, with a mind indeed 
too often addicted more to curious inquiries than to virtuous 
acquirements, (for I wanted if possible to know everything) 
— I have taken more pains, I conceive, than another who is 
generally read or at least well known,' in investigating the 
marvels of the world; I have travelled in all the chief 
countries of the earth, and in particular to places where 
merchants from all parts of the world do come together, 
such as the Island of Ormes, and yet I never could ascertain 
as a fact that such races of men really do exist, whilst the 
persons whom I met used to question me in turn where such 
were to be found. The truth is that no such people do exist 

phenomenon, entrusted the child to her damnelB and took her to Ger- 
many (Chron., bk. y, ch. 63). 

^ 8ee portrait of the " Hairy Woman" in the Miation to Ava in 1855. 
In thai case the phenomenon had appeared in at least three generations. 

^ " Qui plus dedi operam, ut puto, quam aliuM qui legaiur vel §ciatur." 
Does this point at Odoric ? 



BY JOHN BE* MARIQNOLLI. 881 

as nations^ thoagh there may be an individual monster here 
and there. Nor is there any people at all such as has been 
invented^ who have but one foot which they use to shade 
themselves withal. But as all the Indians commonly go 
naked^ they are in the habit of carrying a thing like a little 
tent-roof on a cane handle^ which they open out at will as a 
protection against sun or rain. This they call a chatyr;^ I 
brought one to Florence with me. And this it is which the 
poets have converted into a foot. 



ANECDOTE CONCERNING A CERTAIN INDIAN WHO WAS BAPTISED. 

Here I must relate how when I was staying at Columbum 
with those Christian chiefs who are called Modilial^ and are 
the owners of the pepper^ one morning there came to me in 
front of the church a man of majestic stature and snovry 
white beard, naked from the loins upwards ydth only a 
mantle thrown about him, and a knotted cord [crossing his 
shoulder] like the stole of a deacon. He prostrated himself 
in reverence at full length upon the sand, knocking his head 
three times against the ground. Then he raised himself, and 
seizing my naked feet wanted to kiss them ; but when I for- 
bade him he stood up. After a while he sat down on the 
ground and toM us the whole story of his life through an 
interpreter. This interpreter [strange to say] was his own 
son, who having been taken by pirates and sold to a certain 
Genoese merchant, had been baptized, and as it so chanced 
was then with us, and recognized his father by what he 
related. 

> ChaJtr (PerB.) an umbrella. It is strange that he should require to 
give 80 roundabout a description, for Ibn Batuta says that every body, 
gentle and simple, at Constantinople used parasols at this time. I ob- 
serre that a gilt umbrella is a part of the insignia of high chnrch digni- 
taries in Italy, as it is in Burma and other Buddhistic countries. When 
did this originate ? 

' MudxLiar (Tamul), a head man. The word is in abundant and tech- 
nical use in Ceylon, and probably in the south of India also. 



382 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE BA8T» 

The old man had never eaten fleshy had never bat oiM^e 
been in the way of begetting offsprings habitually fasted four 
months in the year, ate only a little rice boiled in water^ with 
fruit and herbs^ and that late in the evenings used to spend 
his nights in prayer, and before he entered his place of 
prayer washed his whole body, and put on a dress of spot- 
less linen reserved for this only. He then would go in and 
worship the devil in his image, with the most single-minded 
devotion. He was the priest of the whole of his island, 
which was situated in the remotest region of the Indies. 

Now God seeing his purity enlightened him first with 
wisdom from within ; and afterwards the demon was con- 
strained to address him through the idoPs mouth, speaking 
thus : 'Thou art not in the path of salvation ! God therefore 
enjoineth thee to proceed to Columbum, a distance of two 
years voyage by sea, and there shalt thou find the messenger 
of God who shall teach thee the way of salvation I' ' Now, 
therefore,' said he to me, ' here am I, come to thy feet and 
ready to obey thee in all things ; and what is more, it was 
thy face that I saw in my dreams, as now I recognize/ Then 
having prayed with tears, and strengthened him in his in- 
tent, we assigned his baptized son as his teacher and inter- 
preter. And after three months instruction I baptized him 
by the name of Michael, and blessed him, and sent him away, 
whilst he promised to preach to others the faith that he had 
acquired.^ 

This story serves te exemplify that God (as St. Peter said 
of Cornelius the centurion) is no respecter of persons, but 
whosoever keepeth the law that is written in the heart (For 

> The old man was evidently a Brahman, accurately described, and it 
is almost too great a stretch of charity to suppose that he came truly in 
search of instruction. For certainly the interpreter at least was playing 
on MarignoUi's simplicity and vanity with the stories of the two years 
voyage, of the miraculous admonition, etc., to make him think he was 
enacting Peter to this new Cornelius. In fact it looks as if the whole 
was got up as a trick, in the spirit of those which the Duke and Duchess 
played on Don Quixote. 



BY JOHN de' marionolli. 383 

the light of Thy countenance hath shone upon us^ Lord !) 
is accepted of Him^ and is taught the way of salvation. 

But I did not fail to inquire whether this man, who had 
for two years been sailing about the unexplored seas and 
islands of the Indies, had seen or even heard anything of 
those monsters of which we have been speaking; but he 
knew nothing whatever about them. Nor could I learn 
more when I was with the Queen of Saba ; though there the 
sun rises just the opposite of here, and at noon the shadow 
of a man passes from left to right, instead of from right to 
left, as it does here.^ The north pole there was six degrees 
below the horizon, and the south pole as much elevated 
above it, as has been pointed out to me by Master Lemon of 
Genoa, a very noble astronomer, besides many other won- 
derftd things in regard to the stars. 

Giants do exist, undoubtedly ; and I have seen one so tall 
that my head did not reach above his girdle; he had a 
hideous and disgusting countenance. There are also wild 
men, naked and hairy, who have wives and children, but 
abide in the woods. They do not show themselves among 
men, and I was seldom able to catch sight of one ; for they 
hide themselves in the forest when they perceive any one 
coming. Yet they do a great deal of work, sowing and 
reaping com and other things ; and when traders go to them, 
as I have myself witnessed, they put out what they have to 
sell in the middle of the path, and run and hide. Then the 
purchasers go forward and deposit the price, and take what 
has been set down.* 

1 " Oritur sol modo oppoaito nohxB, et in meridie transit umhra viri ad 
dextrwn sicut hie ad sinistrwn, et oceultalur ibi Polus Arctieus nobis gradi- 
bus sex, et antaretievu totidem elev<Uwr/' I preemne the man is supposed 
to be looking at his shadow with his back to the sun. The account is 
then intelligible. 

' He may here refer either to the Veddahs of Ceylon (see ante, p. 871), 
or to the Poliars and like tribes of the continent, whom he may have seen 
during his long stay at Columbum, for both practise this dumb trade. 
Begaiding the Veddahs, and the many authorities for their trading in this 



384 EEC0LLECTI0N8 OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

It is a faot also that monstrous serpents exist [in the east] , 
and very like that which onr lord the Emperor Charles hath 
in his park at Prague. There are aUo certain animals with 
countenances almost like a man^s ; more particularly in the 
possession of the Queen of Saba, and in the cloister at 
Campsay in that most famous monastery where they keep so 
many monstrous animals, which they beUeve to be the souls 
of the departed.^ [Not that they really are so] for I ascer- 
tained by irrefragable proof that they are irrational animals, 
except, of course, in so far as the devil may make use of 
them as he once did of the serpent's tongue. [Such delu- 
sions] those unbelievers may deserve to bring upon them- 
selves because of their unbeUef. But otherwise I must say 
that their rigid attention to prayer and fasting and other re- 
ligions duties, if they but held the true faith, would far sur- 
pass any strictness and self-denial that we practise.^ How- 
ever [as I was going to say] those animals at Campsay 
usually come to be fed at a given signal, but I observed that 
they never would come when a cross was present, though as 
soon as it was removed they would come. Hence I conclude 

£Ei8hion, from FaHian downwards, see Tennent, i, 592, etc; and regarding 
the Poliara, see Markham's Travels in Peru and India, p. 404. A like 
£Eishion of trade is ascribed by Pliny (probably through some mistake) to 
the Seres ; by Ibn Batata to the dwellers in the Dark Lands of the North 
(ii, 400, 401) ; and by Cosmas to the gold-sellers near the Sea of Zingiam 
or Zanzibar (Montfaticon, ii, 139). See also Ca4amo8to in Bamuaio, i, and 
Herodottu, iv, 196, with Bawlinson's note thereon. 

1 This is a very curious and unexceptionable corroboration of Odoric*s 
quaint story of the convent garden at Eing8s6 (see p. 118). 

' So Bicold of Montecroce, who frequented the Mahomedan monastic 
institutions to study their law with the view of refuting it (he afterwards 
published a translation of the Koran and an argument against it), ex- 
presses his astonishment at finding in lege tantes perfidiw opera tantw per- 
fecHonia. Who would not be astonished, he goes on, " to see the zeal of 
the Saracens in study, their devoutness in prayer, their charity to the 
poor, their reverence for the name of God, for the prophets and the holy 
places, the gravity of their manners, their affability to foreigners, their 
loving and peaceable conduct towards each other ?" (Peregrin. Quatuory 
etc., p. 131.) 



BY JOHN de' marignolli. 385 

that these monsters are not men^ although they may seem 
to have some of the properties of men^ but are merely of the 
character of apes -^ (indeed if we had never seen apes before 
we should be apt to look upon them as men I) ; unless for- 
sooth they be monsters such as I have been speaking of 
before, which come of Adam^s race indeed, but are excep- 
tional and unusual births. 

Nor can we conceive (and so says St. Augustine likewise), 
that there be any antipodes, i.e. men having the soles of their 
feet opposite to ours. Certainly not.^ For the earth is 
founded upon the waters. And I have learned by sure ex- 
perience that if you suppose the ocean divided by two lines 
forming a cross, two of the quadrants so formed are navi- 
gable, and the two others not navigable at all. For God 
willed not that men should be able to sail round the whole 
world. 

I have, however, seen an hermaphrodite, but it was not able 
to propagate others like itself. Nor indeed does a mule 
propagate. Now let us go back to our subject. 

The next chapter is one Concerning the Multiplication of the 
Human Bace, afid the Division of the Earth, and the Tower of 
Bahel. I extract the following : 

And they came to the plain of Senaar in the Greater Asia, 
near to the great River Euphrates. There indeed we find a 
vast level of seemingly boundless extent, in which, as I have 
seen, there is abundance of all kinds of fruits, and especially 

1 The argument of the cross would seem to out the other way ! 

^ See De CivUtxte Dei, xvi, 9. Cosmas also rejects the notion of An- 
tipodee with great scorn. " Scripture says that God made of one (blood) 
all nations of men for to dwell on the whole face of the earth, and not 
upon BTBKT £ftce of the earth" (not M wturrl wpoa-Aw^, but M irarros 
vpoc^oy). But his Almfthing argument is, " How could rain at the Anti- 
podes be said to/all f Why it would ewne up instead of falling" (pp. 121, 
167, 191 of Monifauc<m), I remember hearing that the Astronomer Boyal 
on fiiMJiTig &ult with an engraver who had prepared the plates for a 
treatise of his wrongside upward, was met by the argument, '* Why, sir, 
I thought there was no up or down in space !" 

25 



386 RECOLLECTIONS OP TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

of dates^ bat also olives and vines in great plenty ; so also 
of all field and garden produce, pumpkins, melons, and 
watermelons. 

Then of Babel and Nimrod : 

So be began and taugbt tbem to bake bricks to serve 
instead of stone, and, as there are many wells of bitumen 
there, they had bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 
And this bitumen is a kind of pitch, very black and liquid, 
mixt with oil; and when it is used with bricks in building 
it solidifies and sets so hard that it is scarcely possible by any 
art to separate the joints, as I have myself seen and felt when 
I was on that. Tower; and some of that hardened bitumen I 
carried away with me. The people of the country are con- 
tinually demolishing the Tower, in order to get hold of the 
bricks. And the foundations of the city were laid upon the 
most extensive scale, so that every side of the square was, 
they say, eight Italian miles ; and from what one sees this 
seems highly probable. They set the Tower at the extremity 
of the walls next the river, as if for a citadel, and as they 
built up the walls they filled the interior with earth, so that 
the whole was formed into a round and solid mass. In the 
morning when the sun is rising it casts an immensely long 
shadow across that wide plain.^ 

^ The ruin here identified by Marignolli with the Tower of Babel ap- 
pears to be that called by Rich Mujelvbt, and by Layard Bahel. It is about 
half a mile from the present channel of the river. Layard speaks of " a line 
of waUs which, leaving the foot of Babel, stretch inland about two miles 
and a half from the present bed of the Euphrates." It is generally ad- 
mitted however that these cannot be the real ramparts of old Babylon, 
though Bich thought they might be the interior enclosure of the palaces ; 
whilst Bennell took them to be the walls of some more recent city. 
Layard mentions that the excavation of bricks from the remains is still a 
trade, and they are sold as far as Baghdad. A like trade has thriven for 
years at Agra in India, where bricks are never made, but dug for. 

The excavations at the Mtgelib^ or Babel showed that the structure 
was much as Marignolli describes, viz. an exterior of burnt bricks laid 
in bitumen enclosing the unbumt bricks which form the interior mass. 
So Nebuchadnezzar himself says in the BirR Nimnid inscription as ren- 



BY JOHN de' MARIGNOLLT. 387 



CONCERNING THE DIVISION OP TONGUES. 

Haying related that history, and how the greatest part of the 
Tower was destroyed by lightning, he goes on : 

And they attempted^ it seems, to build similar towers 
elsewhere, but were not able. Insomuch that even when 
a certain soldan erected a great building upon the founda- 
tion of sucli a tower, it was struck down by lightning, 
and on his several times renewing the attempt it was always 
struck down. So he took his departure into Egypt, and 
there built the city of Babylon, and is still called the Soldan 
of Babylon.^ 

dered by Oppert : " The earthquake and the thunder had dispersed its 
son-dried day; the bricks of the casing had heen spHt^ and the earth 
of the interior had been scattered in heaps... In a fortunate month, 
in an auspicious day, I undertook to huild porticoes around the crude 
brick masses, and the casing of burnt bricks." (English Cyclop., article 
Babylon : Bich't Memoir on Bab, and Peraepolis, 1839; Smith's Did, of 
the Bible quoted in Qwirterly Review, Oct. 1864 ; Rawlinson's Herodotiu, 
with a clear plan in vol. ii). It seems impossible, from his mention of 
the river and ramparts, etc., that Marignolli should here speak of the 
Birs Nimrud. (See also next note.) In later times Oeesar Federici, and 
again Tavemier, describe yet another ruin, that called Akkerhuf much 
nearer Baghdad, as the Tower of Babel. 

1 This quaint statement of the supposed reason for the removal of the 
Caliphate to Egypt refers perhaps to the Birs Nimrud. Its lightning- 
rent aspect has struck all who have seen it, and is referred to even in the 
inscription quoted in the preceding note. 

Babylon of Egypt is close to Old Cairo, and is still known as Babul. 
The name comep down from classic times, being mentioned by several 
writers from Cteslas to Ptolemy, and Babylon of Egypt was the head- 
quarters of the Boman garrison in the time of Augustus. Cairo and 
Babylon existed together in the middle ages as two distinct cities ; the 
merchants and artificers chiefly residing at Babylon; the Sultan, his amirs 
and men-at-arms in Cairo and the Castrum, which was, I suppose, the 
present citadel. But the city of the Egyptian Soldan is very commonly 
called in those days simply Babylon. Ediisi mentions that the city of 
Misr (which now means Cairo) was called in Greek Bamblundh. Fego- 
lotti uses the term Cairo di Bambillonia, Mandeville, after carefully distin- 
guishing between the two Babylons, puts the Furnace of the Three Chil- 
dren at the Egyptian Babylon ; and yet he had served the Soldan in 
Egypt. {Smith's Diet, of Or, avid Rom. Oeog. ; Marini Sanutii TorseUi, 

0^2 



388 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

• • • • • • 

The second son of Nimrod was Belus^ and had his resi- 
dence in Babel afber him. . . Now Bagbel, as it is called 
in their language^ is different from Babylon. For the latter 
means confusion, whilst bag with the letter g means a garden 
or paradise. [Bagbel therefore means the Garden] of Bel, 
and it is called also Bag dag. ^ 

He then relates how Belns originated idolatry, and finishes 
with this singular passage : 

The Jews however, the Tartars, and the Saracens, con- 
sider us to be the worst of idolaters, and this opinion is not 
confined to Pagans only, but is held also by some of the 
Christians. For although those Christians show devotion to 
pictures, they hold in abomination images, carved faces, and 
alarmingly life-like sculptures such as there are in our 
churches ;* as for example on the sepulchre of St, Adalbert 
at Prague. 

Then follow chapters Concerning Nyntts, and Concerning the 
Wife ofNynus. 

Semiramis, the wife of Nynus, the glory of womankind, 
hearing that her husband was slain, and fearing to entrust 
the government to her son, who was yet a child, kept him 
closely concealed. Meanwhile she adopted a dress made 
after the Tartar fashion, with large folds in front to disguise 
her bust, long sleeves to hide her lady^s hands, long skirts 
to cover her feet, breeches to maintain her disguise when she 
mounted on horseback, her head well covered up, and so 

Lib, Secret. Fid., etc., i, c. 6 j Edrisi, i, 802 ; PegolotH, cap. xr ; Mandeville, 
p. 144.) 

^ 2farignolIi gets into a muddle in trying to connect Babel and Baghdad, 
building on the Persiai^ Bdgh, a garden. 

' " Abhominawtur larv€U faeiee, et horrendaa sculpiuras eieut tuni in 
eedenig." Not only the Oriental GhriBtiAnB, but even Jewish Doctors, 
distinguished between paintings and figures in relief, considering the 
former to be lawful {LudoJf., Comment., p. 372). 



BY JOHN de' mabignolli. 389 

gave herself out Tor the son of Nynns, ruled in his name^ 
and ordered that style of dress to be generally followed. 
She then ordered warlike armaments^ and invaded India 
and conquered it. . . In India she clandestinely gave birth 
to a daughter, whom she made when grown up Queen of the 
finest island in the world, Saba^ by name. In that island 
women always, or for the most part, have held the govern- 
ment in preference to men. And in the palace there I have 
seen historical pictures representing women seated on the 
throne, with men on bended knees adoring before them. 
And so also I saw that actually in that country the women 
sat in the chariots or on the elephant-chairs, whilst the men 
drove the oxen or the elephants. 

The only points worth noticing in his next chapter Concerning 
Abraham J are his derivation, often repeated, of Saracen from 
Sarah ; and the remark regarding the Dead Sea, that it can be 
seen from the dormitory of the Minor Friars on Mount Ziop. 

The following chapter headed Concerning the Kingdom of tJie 
ArgiveSj ends with a discussion whether tithes are obligatory on 
ChrisHans^ and this leads to an anecdote : 

As long as the Church and its ministers are provided for 
in some other way, it may be doubted whether the law of 
tithe should be imposed; as it certainly was not by the 
Apostles or by the Fathers for many a day after their time. 

^ Beepecting Saba, see Introdnctory Notices. In this odd story of Semi- 
ramis and her daughter the Queen of Saba, we may perhi^ra trace the 
Arab traditions about the birth of Belkis (as they caU her) Queen of 
Sheba or Saba in the time of Solomon. Her mother was said to be a 
daughter of the jinns, called Umeira, who falling in love with the Wazir of 
the tyrant King of Saba, carried him to the island where she lived, and 
married him. Within a year's time she bore him BeUda, with whom the 
Wazir eventually returned to Saba, and the tyrant father being slain for 
his misdeeds, Belkis became the wise and glorious Queen who visited 
Solomon {WeiVe BiNioal Legends, pp. 195-197). Is it accidental that this 
story of MarignoUi's associates Semiramis with the Queen of Sheba, the 
Belkie of the Arabs, whilst from modem researches BeUie the chief female 
deity of the Assyrians, appearing sometimes as the wife of Nin, beoomes 
identified with the ancient stories of Semiramis ? (see BawUnson'a Herodolns, 
i, 184, 495, 513). 



390 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST, 

And a case occarred in my own experience at Ejlhul,^ when 
many Tartars and people of other nations, on their first 
conversion, refused to be baptized unless we would swear 
that after their baptism we should exact no temporalities 
from them ; nay, on the contraiy, that we should provide for 
their poor out of our own means. This we did, and a multi- 
tude of both sexes in that city did then most gladly receive 
baptism. ^Tis a doubtful question, but with submission to 
the Churches better judgment I would use no compulsion. 

After sandry chapters about the Foundatio7i of Borne and the 
like, we come at last to the Prologue or Preface (!) viz., to the 
actual Bohemian histoiy. 'Tis a wonderful specimen of rig- 
marole, addressed to the emperor, in which the author shows the 
reluctance of a man entering a shower-bath in January to com- 
mit himself to the essential part of his task. The histoiy affords 
none of the reminiscences which we seek for extract : a few 
notices of interest remain however to be gathered from his third 
book, which he calls lerarchicua. 

Thus, in speaking of circumcision, he says : 

Talking on this matter with some of the more intelligent 
Jews who were friends of mine (at least as far as Jews can 
be friends with a Christian), they observed to me that the 
general law in question could never be fulfilled except with 
a very sharp razor, either of steel or of some nobler metal, 
such as bronze or gold. And they agreed with the dictum 
of Aristotle in his book of Problems, when he expressly 
asserts that cuts made with a knife of bronze or gold are 
healed more quickly than such as are made with a steel 
instrument. And this accords with the practice of the sur- 
geons of Cathay, as I have seen. 

1 Kamul, Komul, or Eamil^ the Hami of the ChineBO^ and the station 
at which the routes eastward from the north and the south sides of the 
Thian Shan converge, and from which trayeUers generally start to cross 
the desert before entering China (see Polo, ii,d6; and Benedict Gk>Ss« infra). 
The people of KamU were aU Buddhists in Marco Polo's time. In 1419 
Shah Bukh's envoys found there the mosque and Buddhist texnple side 
by side. 



BT JOHN DE' MABIQNOLLI. 391 

From the chapter Concerning Jehaiada the Priest. 

At this time Grod pitying his people caused Elias to 
appear, who had been kept by God, it is not known where. 
That may be true which the Hebrews allege (as Jerome men- 
tions in his comment on 1 Chronicles, xxi), viz., that he is 
the same as Phineas the son of Eleazar.^ But it is asserted 
both by the Hebrews and the Sabseans, i.e., the people of 
the kingdom of the Queen of Saba, that he had his place of 
abode in a very lofty mountain of that land which is called 
Mount Gybeit, meaning the Blessed Mountain. In this 
mountain also they say that the Magi were praying on the 
night of Christ's nativity when they saw the Star. It is in 
a manner inaccessible, for from the middle of the mountain 
upwards the air is said to be so thin and pure that none, or 
at least veiy few have been able to ascend it, and that only 
by keeping a sponge filled with water over the mouth. They 
say however that Elias by the will of God remained hidden 
there until the period in question. 

The people of Saba say also that he still sometimes shows 

' The Hebrew notions about the identity of Phineas and Elias have 
been adopted and expanded by the Mahomedans, who also identify in 
some way with them their mysterious prophet Khidhr. Hermita^^ or 
chapels dedicated to Khidhr and Elias appear to have been very numerous 
in Mussolman countries, especially on hilUtops (see Ibn BcUuta passim). 
And the oriental christians and semi-christians also always associate Elias 
with mountain tops. There seems to be scarcely a prominent peak in the 
Greek Archipelago with which the name of Elias is not connected. 

I do not know what Oyheit is, which he interprets as Beatui, Kuheis is 
the name of one of the holy mountains at Mecca of which wonderful 
things are related, but I find no meaning assigned to the name. There 
are many mountains in Java (if Java be the Saba of our author) which 
might in vast height and sublimity of aspect answer to the suggestions 
of MarignolU's description; none better perhaps than the Ijerimai, 
rising in isolated majesty to a height greater than Etna's, in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the coast, and close to Cheribon, the earliest seat of 
Mahomedanism in the island. Little less striking, and still more lofty, 
though not so isolated, is the Great S'l&mat, a little further eastward, 
and by a singular coincidence its name (from the Arabic Saldmat, Peace 
or Salvation) might Dairly bo translated Mons Beatus, 



392 RECOLLECTIONS OF TUAVEL IN THE EAST, 

himself there. And there is a spring at the foot of that 
mountain where they say he used to drink, and I have 
• drunk from that spring myself. But I was unable to ascend 
that Blessed Mountain, being weighed down with infirmi* 
ties, the result of a very powerful poison that I had swal- 
lowed in Columbum, administered by those who wished to 
plunder my property. Although I was passing pieces of 
flesh from my intestines with a vast amount of blood, and 
suflTered from an incurable dysentery of the third species for 
something like eleven months, a disease such as they say no 
one ever escaped from with life, yet God had compassion on 
me and spared me to relate what I had seen. For I did 
recover, by the aid of a certain female physician of that 
Queen's, who cured me simply by certain juices of herbs 
and an abstinent diet. 

I frequently saw the Queen, and gave her my solemn 
benediction. I rode also upon her elephant, and was pre- 
sent at a magnificent banquet of hers. And whilst I was 
seated on a chair of state in presence of the whole city she 
honoured me with splendid presents. For she bestowed on 
me a golden girdle, such as she was accustomed to confer 
upon those who were created princes or chiefs. This was 
afterwards stolen from me by those brigands in Seyllan. 
She also bestowed raiment upon me, that is to say one hun- 
dred and fifty whole pieces^ of very delicate and costly stuff. 
Of these I took nine for our lord the Pope, five for myself, 
gave three apiece to each of the chief among my com- 
panions, with two apiece to the subordinates, and all the rest 
I distributed in the Queen's own presence among her ser- 
vants who stood around ; that so they might perceive I was 
not greedy. And this thing was highly commended, and 
spoken of as very generous. I trust this little anecdote will 
not displease [His Majesty] . 

* " Pccias intffjras.*' 



BY JOHN de' mabignolli. 393 



This and the following chapters contain a few incidental alia-* 
sions to his homeward joarnej through the Holj Land. Thns 
he speaks of the entire destruction of the Temple and of the 
existence of a Mosque of the Saracens upon its site ; he gives a 
slight descnption of Bethlehem, with the Fountain of David, 
and the Cave of the Nativity, and alludes to having visited the 
Wilderness of the Temptation. 

In one passage he quotes as the favourable testimony of an 
enemy, how 

Machomet the accursed^ in his Alcoran^ in the third Zora, 
speaketh thus : Mary, God hath purified thee and made 
thee holy above all women ! etc. 

The last extract that I shall make is from the same chapter. 

Also all the philosophers and astrologers of Babylon and 
Egypt and Chaldea calculated that in the conjunction of 
Mercury with Saturn a girl should be bom, who as a virgin, 
without knowledge of men, should bear a son in the land of 
Israel. And the image of this Virgin is kept in great state 
in a temple in Kampsay, and on the first appearance of the 
moon of the first montV (that is of February, which is the 

1 " Prima lumina mensis primi ;" perhaps he means up to the full moon 
of the first month P The Chinese year commences from the new moon 
nearest to the middle point of Aqaarius. The sun would enter Aquarius, 
according to the calendar in MarignoUi's time, about the 28th of January, 
so that the Chinese first month would correspond in a partial way to 
Febmaiy. The feast to which he alludes is the celebrated Feast of Lan- 
terns, which is kept through the first fifteen days of the moon, but espe- 
cially on the full moon. The imag^ of which he speaks is- doubtless that 
of the Buddhist personage whom the Chinese call JTuanytn, and to whom 
they give the name of "the Virgin" in conversing with Europeans, whilst 
conversely they apply the name of Euanyin to the Bomish images of the 
Virgin Mary (see Dlivis's Chinese, ii, 177). It does not appear however, 
that the Feast of Lanterns is connected with the worship of Kuanyin. 
Her birth is celebrated on the 19th day of the second moon, and another 
feast in her honour on the 16th day of the eleventh moon (Chine Mod., ii, 
r>W, 652). 



394 RECOLLECTIONS OF TRAVEL IN THE EAST. 

first month among the Cathayers) that new year's feast is 
celebrated with great magnificence^ and with illuminations 
kept up all the night. 



vt. 

IBN BATUTA'S TKAVELS IN BENGAL 

AND CHINA. 



VI. 

IBN BATUTA'S TRAVELS IN BENGAL AND CHINA. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 



Abu-Abdullah Mahomed, called Ibn Batnta,^ The Traveller (par 
exceUettce) of the Arab nation, as be was hailed bj a saint of his 
religion whom he visited in India, was bom at Tangier on the 
24th February, 1304. 

The dnty of performing the Mecca pilgrimage mnst have deve* 
loped the travelling propensity in many a Mahomedan, whilst 
in those days the power and extension of the vast freemasonry to 
which he belonged would give facilities in the indulgence of this 
propensity such as have never been known under other circum- 
stances to any class of people.^ Ibn Batuta himself tells us how 
in the heart of China he fell in with a certain Al Bnshri,^ a 
countryman of his own from Ceuta, who had risen to great 
wealth and prosperity in that far country, and how at a later date 
(when after a short visit to his native land the restless man 
had started to explore Central Africa), in' passing through Segel- 
messa, on the border of the Sahra, he was the guest of the same 
Al Bushri's brother.* ** What an enormous distance lay between 

1 During his travels in the Sast he bore the name of Shamsaddf n (i, 8). 

3 Ricold Monteoroce is greatly stniok with the brotherly feeling among 
Hahomedans of his day, however strange to one another in blood : " Nam 
etiam loqaendo ad invioem, mazime ad extraneoe dicit anus alteri: 
' O fill matris meiB !' Ipsi etiam nee ocddunt ee ad invicem neo ezpoliant, 
sed homo SaznusenuB secoriBsime transit inter qaosoonque extraneos et 
barbaroB Sarracenoa" (Pereg. Quittuor,, p. 134). 

* iv, 282. Similar references indicate the French edition and version 
by Befr^mery and Sanguinetti, from which I have translated. 

* iv, 377. 



308 IBN BATUTA^S TRAVELS IN BEKQAL AND CHINA. 

those two V* the traveller himself exclaims. On another occa- 
sion he mentions meeting at Bmssa a certain Shaik Abdallah of 
Misr who hore the snmame of The Traveller. This worthy had 
indeed made the tonr of the world, as some wonld have it, but he 
had never been in China nor in the Island of Serendib, neither 
in Spain nor in Negroland. " I have beaten him," sajs Ibn 
Batata, ^' for all these have I visited V*^ 

He entered on his wanderings at the age of twenty-one (14th 
June, 1325), and did not close them till he was hard on fif%y-one 
(in Jannaxy, 1355) : his career thus coinciding in time pretty 
exactly with that of Sir John Mandeville (1322-1356), a traveller 
the compass of whose jonmeys wonld be deemed to equal or sur- 
pass the Moor's, if we could but believe them to be as genuine. 

Ibn Batuta commenced his travels by traversing the whole 
longitude of Africa (finding time to marry twice upon the road) 
to Alexandria, the haven of which he extols as surpassing all 
that he saw in the course of his peregrinations, except those of 
Kaulam and Calicut in India, that held by the Christians at 
Sudik or Soldaia in the Crimea, and the great port of Zayton in 
China. After some stay at Cairo, which was then perhaps the 
greatest city in the world out of China,^ he ascended the valley 
of the Nile to Syene, and passed the Desert to Aidhab on the 
Red Sea, with the view of crossing the latter to Mecca. But 
wars raging on that sea prevented this, so he retraced his steps 
and proceeded to visit Palestine and the rest of Syria, including 
Aleppo and Damascus. He then performed the pilgrimage to 
the holy cities of his reHgiou,^ and afterwards visited the shrine 

» ii, 321. 

' The traveller reports that the Flagne or Black Death of 1348 carried 
off 24,000 booIb in one day (!) in the united cities of Cairo and Misr or 
Fostat (i, 229); whilst in 1381 the pestilence was said to have carried off 
30,000 a day. George Gacoio, who heard this at Cairo in 1384, relates also 
of the visitation of 1348 that " according to what the then Soldan wrote 
to King Hugo of Cyprus, there were some days when more than 100,000 
souls died in Cairo !" {Viaggi in Terra Santa, p. 291). 

' Between Medina and Mecca he mentions an additional instance of 
the phenomenon spoken of at p. 166 supra. Near Bedr, he says, " in firont 
of you is the Mount of the Drums, {JibaUuUThaMl) ; it is like a huge 
sand-hiU, and the natives assert that in that place every Thursday ni^ht 
they hear as it were the sound of drams" (i, 296). 



INTROBUCTOBY NOTICE. 399 

of All at Meshed. From this he went to Basra, and then through 
Ehnzistan and Lniistan to Ispahan, thence to Shiraz and back 
to Kufa and Baghdad. After an excursion to Mosul and Diar- 
bakr, he made the pilgrimage for a second time, and on this 
occasion continued to dwell at Mecca for three years. When 
that time had elapsed he made a voyage down the Bed Sea to 
Yemen, through which he travelled to Aden, the singular position 
of which city he describes correctly, noticing its dependance for 
water-supply upon cisterns preserving the scanty rainfall.^ Aden 
was then a place of great trade, and the residence of wealthy 
merchants ; ships of large burden from Cambay, Tana, and all 
the ports of Malabar, were in its harbour.' From Aden, Ibn 

1 These cisterns, works of a colossal magnitude, had in the decay of 
Aden been buried in debris. During the last few years some of them 
hare been cleared out and repaired, and they now form one of the most 
interesting sights of Aden. 

* Aden, one of those places which nature has marked for perpetual 
reviTal, is mentioned, both by Marco Polo and by Marino Sanndo his con- 
temporary, as the great entrep6t of that part of the Indian commerce 
which came westward by Egypt, but neither apparently had accurate 
acquaintance with the route. The former says that " Aden is the port to 
which the Indian ships bring all their merchandize. It is then placed on 
boazd other small yessels which ascend a river about seven, days, at the end 
of which it is disembarked, laden on camels, and conveyed thirty days 
farther. It then comes to the river of Alexandria, and is conveyed down 
to that city." Marino, after speaking of the route by the Persian Gulf, 
and the three ports of Hormuz, Eis, and Basra, goes on : " The fourth 
haven is called Ahaden, and stands on a certain little island, joining as it 
were to the main, in the land of the Saracens ; the spices and other goods 
from India are landed there, loaded on camels, and so carried by a journey 
of nine days to a place on the river Nile called Chus, where they are pat 
into boats and conveyed in fifteen days to Babylon (Cairo). Bat in the 
month of October and thereabouts the river rises to such an extent that 
the spices, etc., continue to descend the stream from Babylon, and enter 
a certain long canal, and so are conveyed over the two hundred miles 
between Babylon and Alexandria." (Polo, iii, c. 39 ; Mar, San, lAher Fide- 
Mum Crude, pt. 1, c. 1.) 

Here we see that Marco apparently took the Bed Sea for a river, misled 
perhaps by the ambiguity of the Persian Darya, And Marino supposes, 
as his map also shows, Aden to be on the west side of the Bed Sea, con- 
founding it probably with Suakin, which was also a port of embarcation 
for India via Egypt, as I gather from, a MS. of the fourteenth century at 
Florence on the pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Thomas. The Chus of 



400 IBN BATUTA8 TRAVELS IN BENGAL AND CHINA. 

Batata oontiniied His voyage down the African coast, visiting' 
Zaila, Makdashaa (Magadozo of the Portngnese), Mombasa, and 
Quiloa in nearly nine degrees of soath latitude. From this he 
sailed to the coaat of Oman, where, like Marco Polo, he remarks 
the surprising custom of feeding cattle of all sorts upon small fish. 
After visiting the chief cities of Oman he proceeded to Hormnz, 
or New HormuE as he calls the city on the celebrated Island. 
The rock-salt found here, he observes, was used in forming orna- 
mental vases and pedestals for lamps, but the most remarkable 
thing that he saw at Hormuz appears to have been a fish's head so 
large that men entered by one eye and went out by the other.^ 

After visiting Kais or Kishm he crossed the Gtdf to Bahrain, 
Al-Eathif, and Hajr or Al-Hasa (or Al-Ahsa^ v. supra^ p. 216), 
where dates were so abundant that there was a proverb about 
carrying dates to Hajr, like ours of coals to Newcastle. Thence 
he crossed Central Arabia through what is now the Wahabi 
country, but without giving a single particular respecting it, 
and made the Mecca pilgrimage again. He then embarked at 
Jiddah, landed on the opposite coast, and made a journey of 
great hardship to Syene, whence he continued along the banks 
of the Nile to Cairo. 

After this he revisited Syria, and made an extensive journey 
through the petty Turkish sultanates into which Asia Minor 
was then divided.' During this tour he tells us how he and his 

Marino ia K^, the ancient Coa or ApoUinopolia Parva, between Keneh 
and Luxor, described by Ibn Batata (i, 106) as in hia day a large and 
flonriahing town, with fine bazaars, moaqnea, and coUegea, the reaidence 
of the Tioeroya of the Thebaid. That traveller embarked at Kua to 
deacend the Nile, after hia firat viait to Upper Egypt. It ia nearly in the 
latitude of Koaaeir. The Carta Catdlana calla Eoaaeir Cho$, and notes it 
aa the place where the Indian apicery waa landed. 

1 Whalea (I believe of the Spermaceti genua) are atiU not uncommon 
in the Arabian Sea. Abu Zaid mentiona that in hia time about Siraf their 
vertebrffi were uaed aa chaira, and that houaea were to be aeen on the 
aame ooaat, the ra^ra of which were formed of whale'a riba. (Bainemd, 
Relations, p. 146.) I remember when in parta of Scotland it waa not 
unoaual to aee the gate-poata of a farm-yard formed of the aame. 

* There were at least eleven of theae prinoipalitiea in Aaia Minor, after 
the fall of the kingdom of Iconium in the latter part of the thirteenth 
century (Deguignes, iii, pt. ii, p. 76). 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 401 

comrade engaged a certain Hajji who could speak Arabic as 
servant and interpreter. They fonnd that he cheated them 
frightftdlj, and one day, provoked beyond measure, they called 
out to him, ^ Come now, Hajji, how much hast thou stolen to 
day ?" The Hajji simply replied, " So much," naming the 
amount of his plunder. '^ We could but laugh and rest content," 
says our traveller. 

He then crossed the Black Sea to Caffa, chiefly occupied, as 
he tells us, by the Genoese (Jantviyd)^ and apparently the first 
Christian city in which he had found himself, for he was in great 
dismay at the bell-ringing. He went on by Kbim (or Solghat) 
and Azov to Majar, a fine city on a great river (the Kuma), 
where he was greatly struck by the consideration with which 
women were treated by the Tartars ; as if, in fact, creatures of a 
higher rank than men. From this he proceeded to the camp of 
Sultan Mahomed Uzbek, Elian of Kipchak, then pitched at 
BiSHDAQH, a thermal spring, apparently at the foot of Caucasus.^ 
He was well received by the Khan, and obtained from him a 
guide to conduct him to the city of Bolghar, which he was 
anxious to visit in order to witness with his own eyes the short- 
ness of the northern summer night.' He was desirous also to go 
north from Bolghar to the Land of Darkness, of which he had 
heard still more wonderful things; but this he gave up on 
account of the many difficulties, and returned to the sultan's 
camp, which he then followed to Haj-tabkhan (Astracan). 

One of the wives of Mahomed Uzbek was a Greek princess of 
Constantinople, whom the traveller calls the KTidtun or Lady 
Beyfliin (Thilwmena? or lolanthe? At iii, 10, it is written 

1 This place, according to Defr^meiy (/ourn. As,, July-Sept. 1850, p. 
159), fltill'ftzists as Besh Tau, and was visited by Elaproth. 

3 Bolglwr, sometimes called Bolar, is in nearly the latitude of Carlisle. 
It stood near the left bank of the Atil or Wolga, about fifty miles above 
the modem Simbirsk and ninety miles south-west of Kasan. It was 
sometimes the residence of the khans of Kipchak. There was still a 
village called Bolg^ari on the site when Pallas wrote ; and there are a con- 
siderable nnmber of architectural remains. On these Hammer Pnrgstall 
refers to Schmidt's " ArehiUkionxBcKe Umriise der Ruinen Bolgars, 1832" 
(PdUoB, Fr. Trans., year ii, i^ 217; Oeich, der Oold, Horde, p. 8 ; Beinaud'g 
Ahuyieda, u, p. 81.) 

26 



402 iBN batuta'b travels in bengal and china. 

Beilun), and she was now aboat to pay a visit to her own people.^ 
Ibn Batata was allowed to join the cortege. Their route seems 
to have been singularly devious, leading them bj Ukak* ten days 
above Sarai, near the ^^ Hills of the Russians/' described as a fiur- 
haired, blue-eyed, but ugly and crafty race of Christians, thence 
to the port of Soldaia (perhaps with the intention of going by 
sea) and then by land the whole way to Constantinople, where 
they were received in great state, the emperor (Andronions the 
Younger) and empress coming out to meet their daughter, and 
the whole population crowding to see the show, while the bells 
rang till the heavens shook with the clangour. He tells us how, 
as he passed the city gate in the lady's train, he heard the guards 
muttering to one another Sarakinu I SaTakinu ! a name, says he, 
by which they called Mussulmans. 

It is curious to find the name Istambul in use a century and 
more before the Turkish conquest.^ Thus he tells us the part of 

1 These marziageB appear to have been tolerably frequent as the Greek 
emperors went down in the worlds though the one in question does not 
seem to be mentioned elsewhere. Thus Hulagu having demanded in 
maxriage a daughter of Michael Fftlsdologns, a natural daughter of the 
emperor, Mary by name, was sent in compliance with this demand: 
Hulagu was dead when she arrived in Persia, but she was married to his 
successor, Abaga Khan. The Mongols called- her Despina Khatan{^wTouMi). 
An illegitimate sister of the same emperor, called Euphroeyne, was be- 
stowed on Nagaia Khan, founder of a small Tartar dynasty on the Greek 
frontier; and another daughter of the same name in. 1265 on Tulabuka, 
who twenty years later became Khau of Kipchak. Andronicus the Elder 
is said to have given a young lady who passed for his natural daughter 
to Ghazan Khan of Persia, and a few years later his sister Mary to 
Ghazan's successor, O^aStu, as well as another natural daughter Maiy to 
Tuktuka E[han of Kipchak. Also in the genealogy of the Comneni of 
Trebizond we find two daughters of the Emperor Basil married to Turk- 
ish or Tartar chie&, and daughters of Alexis III, Alexis lY, an^ John IV 
making similar marriages. {jyOhison, iii, 417, and iv, 315, 318 ; De^ipist, 
i, 289 ; Hammer, Qesch. der lUhane ; Preface to Ibh BiUuta, tom. ii, p. x ; 
Art. Comneni m Smith's DicL of Qr, and Bom, Biog,) 

s Ukaka or Ukek and M^jar have already been mentioned at p. 233, 
supra. The ruins of Mf^ar exist and have been described by Klaproth 
{Defremery in /. As., 1850, p. 154). 

> But even in the ninth century Masudi says that the Greeks never 
called their city Constantinia but Bolin (w6\uf=Town of the Londoner), 
and, when they wished to speak of it as the capital of the empire, Sian^ 



INTRODUCTORY ifOTICE. 403 

the city ConstaKtikia, on the eastern side of the river (the tjdlden 
Horn), whek^e the emperor ahd his eourtitetTS reiaido, is battled 
Igtumbul, whilst the other side is called Qalatdj and is specially 
assigned to the dwellings of the Frank Christian^, snch as 
Genoese, V'enetiatts {Banddikah)^ people of Rotae (AhU-^mah), 
and of Frahce {Akil-Afrdnsah), 

After a short stay at the Greek city, during wkich he had fen 
intet^ew with the Bmperot Aiidronieub th^ Eldet*, whom h6 
calls King George (Jirjis), and after i^eceiving d handsome pHe- 
setit from the princess,^ he went bctck to Ifzhek dt Satai, knd 
thence took his way aciDSs the deseil; to KhWArizm and !&okHahk, 
whence he went tO visit the Khan 'Al^uddin I'arlnashirln 6f the 
Ghi^atai dynasty. His travels then extended throngh Khora^an 
and Kabnl, including a passage of the Hindu Kush. This fkp- 
pears to have been by AItdbrab (which he calls Andar)^ and so by 
Pakchshir (feee su^a, p. 167) to Parwan and Charekttr (Charhh). 
It is remarkable that between Anderab and Parwan Ibn Batuta 
speaks of passing the Mountain of PAshai, probably the Pascia 
of Marco Polo, which Pauthier seems thus justified ih identifying 
with a part of the Kafir country of the Hindu Kush (Ltvte de 

holm {tis Ttip vSaw) ; and he speiLks of these as vexy old appellations. In- 
deed the name applied by the Chinese to the Boman Emt>lM in the time 
of Heradius (Folin) argaes that the former term was then in familiar use. 
In the centuiy following Ibn Batata, Buy Gonzalez de Clav\jo says that 
the Greeks called their city, not Constantinople, but Escomboli (probably 
misread for Esiomboli) ; and his contemporary Schiltberger tells us the 
Greeks called it Istiniboli, but the Turks Stambol, 

The Orientals found other etymologies for the name. Thus Sadik Isfa- 
han! declares that Istanbul signifies in the Turkish language, " You will 
find there what you will V* And after the capture of the city, some of the 
sultans tried to change the name to laldTnbuL 

There are several other names in modem use which have been formed 
in the same way ; e.g. lanicmid firom *is NiKo/i^Sf lai^, Setines firom els A0^yat. 
(Jacquet in Jour, As., ix, 459, etc. ; Markluim's Clavijo, p. 47 ; Schiltberger, 
p. 136; Oeog. Works of Sadik Isfahani by J. C, 1832, pp. 7, 8, and 
note,) 

^ Part of this consisted of three hundred pieces of gold called Alhar- 
harah (Hyperpene), the gold of which was bad, he observes. It was 
indeed very bad, for Pegolotti, if I understand him aright, says these 
"perperi" contained only 11 carats of gold to 6 of silver and 7 of copper 
(p. 23). 

2G2 



404 IBN BATXTTA's ISAYELS IN BSKGAL AND CHINA. 

M. Polj p. 123).^ He then proceeded to Sind, reaching the 
Indus, probably somewhere below Larkhana, according to his 
own statement, on the 12th September, 1333. Here he termi- 
nates the First Part of his narratiye. 

Proceeding to Siwastan (Sehwan) he there met with a brother 
theologian, 'Ali-nl-Mulk, who had been appointed governor of 
the district at the mouth of the Indus, and after having travelled 
¥nith him to Lahabi, a fine place on the shore of the ocean, he 
then turned northward to Bakab, XJjah,' and Multan, where he 
found assembled a large party of foreigners all bent on seeking 
their fortunes in India, and waiting at the frontier city for invi- 
tations from the liberal sovereign of Hindustan. 

This was Mahomet Tughlak, originally called Jdna Khan, 
whose contradictory qualities are painted by Ibn Batuta quite in 
accordance with the account of Firishta. The latter describes 
him' as the most eloquent and accomplished prince of his time ; 
gallant in the field and inured to war ; admired for his composi- 
tions in prose and verse ; well versed in history, logic, mathe- 
matics, medicine, and metaphysics ; the founder of hospitals for 
the sick and of refuges for widows and orphans ; profuse in his 
liberality, especially to men of learning. But with all this he was 
wholly devoid of mercy and of consideration for his people ; the 
murderer of his father^ and of his brother, he was as madly 

^ The name appears still more exactly in another passage of Marco 
Polo, where he describee the invasion of India hy the Mongol prince 
whom he calls Nogodar. He " marched by Badascian {Badakahan) and 
through a province called Pabciai, and another called Chesciemnr (Kath- 
fnir), losing many of his people and beasts, because the roads were narrow 
and veiy bad" (i, c. 13). Bemarks on the Passes of Hindu Knsh will be 
found in the Introduction to Go^, ii^a, 

< Lahari is still known as Lahori or "Larry Bonder," though it has dis- 
appeared firom our recent maps. It stands on the western or Pitti branch 
of the Indus delta. Bakdr is Bakkar, the fort in the Indus between 
Sakkar and Bori, where the Indus was bridged for Lord Keane's army by 
M^jor George Thomson in 1838. Ujah is Uchh on the Chenab, below 
Bhawalpur. 

3 Briggt^ Firishta, i, 411-412 ; see also Elphinstone, ii, 60. 

* As the stoiy is told by Ibn Batuta after the relation of an eyewitness, 
Mahomed had prepared, for the reception of his father on his return from 
a campaign, a pavilion on the banks of a stream near Dehli. This pavi- 
lion was artfully constructed with the assistance of Ahmed son of Ayas 



\ 

\ 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 405 

capricions, as cmel, bloodthirsty, and unjust as Nero or Calignla. 
Incensed at anonymous pasquinades against his oppressions, he 
on one occasion ordered the removal of the seat of goyemment, 
and of all the inhabitants of Dehli, to Daulatabad in the Dek- 
kan,^ forty days' journey distant ; and after the old city had been 
gradually reoccupied, and he had himself re-established his court 
there for some years, he repeated the same mad caprice a second 
time.' " So little did he hesitate to spill the blood of Gk)d's 
creatures, that when anything occurred which excited him to 
proceed to that horrid extremity, one might have supposed his 
object was to exterminate the species altogether. No single week 
passed without his having put to death one or more of the learned 
and holy men who surrounded him, or some of the secretaries who 
attended him." Or as Ibn Batuta pithily sums up a part of the 
contradictions of his character, there was no day that the g^te of 
his palace failed to witness the elevation of some abject to afflu- 
ence, the torture and murder of some living soul.^ Mahomed 

the Inspector of Buildings, so that when approached on a certain side by 
the weighty bodies of elephante the whole would fall. After the king had 
alighted and was resting in the pavilion with his £a.vonrite son Mahmad, 
Mahomed proposed that the whole of the elephants should pass in review 
before the building. When they came over the &tal spot the stmcture 
came down on the heads of Tnghlak Shah and his young son. After in- 
tentional delay the ruins were removed, and the king's body was found 
bending over that of his boy as if to shield him. It was carried to Tug- 
lakabad, and laid in the tomb which he had bmlt for himself. This still 
stands, one of the simplest and grandest monuments of Mahomedan anti- 
quity, rising from the middle of what is now a swamp, but was then a lake. 
It is said that the parricide Mahomed is also buried therein. This strange 
fltoiy of the murder of Tughlak Shah is said to have been re-enacted in 
our own day (1841 or 1842), when Nao Nihal Singh, the successor of 
Bai^(t, was killed by the fall of a gateway as he entered Lahore. 

Ahmed Bin Ay as, the engineer of the older murder, became the Wazir of 
Mahomed, under the titles of Malik-Zdda and Khw^ja Jah&n (Tbn Bat., 
iii, 213-14). 

^ A description of the prodigious scale on which the new dty, which 
was to be called the Capital of Islam, was prqjected and commenced, is 
given by an eyewitness in the Maadldk-al-Abadr, translated in Not, et Ex- 
traits, lan, 172. 

' Briggs, pp. 420-422 ; Ibn. Bat., iii, 814. Elphinstone says the move 
was made three times (ii, 67). If so, I have overlooked it in Briggs. 

> Briggs, 411, 12 ; Ibn Bat., ui, 216. 



406 iBN batuta's travels in bxnqal and china. 

formed groafc Bohemia of oonqaeat, hkA oarried out some of them. 
His mad projects for the invasion of Khorasan and of China came 
to nothing, or to miserahle disaster, but within the bounda of 
India he was mor^ successftil, and had at one time sal^cted 
nearly the whole of the Peninsnla. In the end, howeveri yearly 
all his oonqoests were wrested from him» either hj ihe native 
IfijQg or by the revolt of his own servaata. Respecting this 
king and the history of his reign, Ibn Baimta's narrative gives 
many carious and probably truthful details, such subjects being 
more congenial to his turn of mind than the correct observatioa 
of fiEiiCts in geography or natural history, though even as regardb. 
the former his statements are sufficiently perplexed by his con- 
tempt for chronologiqajl arrangement. 

After a detention of two months at Multan, Ibn Batnta was 
allowed to proceed, in company with the distinguished foreigners, 
for whom invitations to the court arrived. The route lay by 
Abohab in the desert, where the Indian, as distinguished &om 
the Sindian provinces commenced, the castle of Abu Bakhb, Aju- 
DAHAN, Sabsati, Hansi, Masudabad, and Palam, to Dbhli.^ The 
city, or group of cities, which then bore the latter name did not 
occupy the site of the modem capital built by Shah Jahan in the 
seventeenth century, but stood some ten miles further south, in 
a position of which the celebrated Kutb Minar may be taken as 
the chief surviving landmark. 

^ I cannot traoe Abu Bakhr. Agudin or Pdk Patian (The Pure or Holy 
Feny ) is a town on the ri(f ht bank of the Sutlej valley, about half way be- 
tween Bhawalp^ and Firuzpur, the site of a very sacred Mahomedan 
shrine, for the sake of which Timor on his devastating march spared the few 
persons found in the town. Abohar is a town in the desert of Bhattiana, 
some sixty miles east of Ajudin. The narrative brings Ibn Batata to 
Ahohar first, and then to Aba Bakhr and Ajodin, and I have not ventured 
to change the order ; bat this seems to involve a direct retrogression. 
SarBoH is the town now called Sirsa on the verge of the Desert. Hansi 
retains its name as the chief town of an English Zillah. Sixty years ago 
it was the capital of that singular adventurer George Thomas, who mised 
himself, from being a sailor before the mast to be the ruler of a small 
Indian principality. Mcksudahad I do not know ; it most have been in 
the direction of the modem Bahidargarh. Palam still exists, a few miles 
west of the Dehli of those days, to one of the gates of which it g^ve its 
name. 






INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 407 

The king was then absent at Eananj, but on hearing of the 
arriyal of Hm Batnta with the rest, he ordered an assignment 
in his behalf of three villages, producing a total rent of 5,000 
silver dinars, and on his return to the capital received the travel- 
ler kindly, and gave him a further present of 12,000 dinars, with 
the appointment of Kasi of Dehli, to which a salary of the same 
amount was attached.^ 

Ibn Batuta continued for about eight years in the service of 
Mahomed Shah, though it seems doubtful how far he was occupied 
in his judicial duties. Indeed, he describes Dehli, though one of 
the grandest cities in the Mahomedan world, as nearly deserted 
during his residence there. The traveller's good fortune seems 
only to have fostered his natural extravagance ; for at an early 
period of his stay at the capital he had incurred d^bte to the 
amount of 55,000 dinars of silver, which, after long importunity, 
he got the Sultan to pay. Indeed, by his own account, he seems 
to have hung like a perfect horse-leech on the king's bounty. 

When Mahomed Tughlak was about to proceed to Maabar to 
put down an insurrection,^ Ibn Batuta e3q)ected to accompany 
him, and prepared an outfit for the march on his usual free scale 
of expenditure.^ At the last moment, however, he was ordered, 

* Bespecting the value of these dinars, see Note A at the end of this 
IntToduction. The three villages assigned to the traveller lay at sixteen 
koss fiK>in Dehli, he says, and were called BadU, Basahi, and Balarah, 
Tiaey lay in the Sadi or Hundred of Hind/Mmt (or the Hindu Idol ; so 
Defr^mery reads it, but the original as he g^ves it seems rather to read 
Hindabai, and may represent Indrapal, the name of one of the old cities 
of Dehli still existing. Probably the villages could be identified on the 
Indian Atlas). Two were added later, Jaunah and MalihpdT, 

s This most have been on the occasion of the revolt of the Sharff JaJal- 
uddin Ahsan in Maabar. The French editors, in the careful chronolo- 
gical table of the events of Mahomed's reign which is embraced in their 
Prefiice to the third volume, place this expedition in 1841-42. The sultan 
fell ill at Warangol, and returned speedily to Daulatabad and Dehli. 

* His account of the outfit required by a gentleman travelling in India 
riiows how little such things have changed there in five hundred years, say 
from 1840 to 1840. (Now they are changing !) He mentions the set of 
tents and saiwdns (or canvas enclosure walls) to be purchased ; men to 
cany the tents on their shoulders (this is never the practice now); the 
grrafls cutters to supply the horses and cattle with grass ; the bearers 
(kahdron) to carry the kitchen utensils on their shoulders, and also to 



^ 



/ 



f 



• 



408 IBN BATUTA^S TRAVELS IN BENGAL AND CHINA. 

nothing loth, to remain hehind and take charge of the tomb of 
Sultan Kntbuddin, whose servant the Snltan had been, and for 
whose memory he professed the greatest veneration.^ He renewed 
his personal extravagances, spending large sums which his friends 
had left in deposit with him, and reviling those who were mean 
enough to expect at least a portion to be repaid ! One who scat- 
tered his own money and that of his friends so freely was not 
likely to be backward when his hand had found its way into the 
public purse. The account he gives of the establishment he pro- 
vided for the tomb placed under his charge is characteristic of his 
magnificent ideas. " I established in connexion with it one hun- 
dred and fifty readers of the Koran, eighty students, and eight 
repeaters, a professor, eighty 0ii^, or monks, an imam, muezzins, 
reciters selected for their fine intonation, panegyrists, scribes to 
take note of those who were absent, and ushers. All these people 
are recognised in that country as alarhabj or gentlemen. I also 
made arrangements for the subordinate class of attendants called 
alhdshiyah, or menials,' such as footmen, cooks, runners, water- 
carriers, sherbet-men, betel-men, sword-bearers, javelin-men, 
umbrella-men, hand-washers, beadles, and officers. The whole 

carry the traveller's palankin ; the fardshes to pitch his tents and load 
his camels ; the ranners to carry torches before him in the dark. More- 
over he tells us he had paid all these people nine months' wages before- 
hand, which shows that the " system of advances" was in still greater 
vigour than even now. 

O^ie French translators do not recognize the word kdharon, putting 
** gohars P" as a parenthetic query. But it is stiU the ordinary name of 
the caste of people (Kahdrs) who bear palankins or carry burdens on a 
yoke over one shoulder, and the name is one of the few real Indian words 
that Ibn Batuta shows any knowledge of. I think the only others are 
tatu for a pony; Jauthri (for CHaod/ri) "the Shaikh of the Hindus," as he 
explains it ; Sdha, as the appellation of a certain class of merchants at 
Daulatabadf a name {Sahd) still borne extensively by a mercantile caste ; 
Kairi (Kahatrx) as the name of a noble class of Hindns ; Jogi; morafc, a 
stool ; kishri (for kichari, vnlgo kedgeree, well known at Indian break- 
fiuits) ; and some names of fruits and pulses (iii, 415, 427; 207; 388; iv, 
49, 61 ; ii, 75 ; iii, 127-131). 

^ This was Katb-uddfn Mubarak Shah, son of ' Al&uddin, murdered by 
his minister Khosru in 1320. 

3 Rabh, Dominus, Possessor, pi. arhdb ; HhdsMydh, ora vestis vel alius 
rei, inde domestici, assedeo (Freytag in w). 



INTBODUCTOBY NOTICE. 409 

ixnber of people whom I appointed to these emplojmeiits 

Jionnted to four hundred and sixty persons. The Sultan had 
ordered me to expend daily in food at the tomb twelve measures 
of meal and an equal weight of meat. That appeared to me too 
scanty an allowance ; whilst, on the other hand, the total revenue 
in grain aUowed by the king was considerable. So I expended 
dailj^ thirty-five measures of meal, an equal weight of butcher- 
meat, and quantities in proportion of sugar, sugar-candy, butter, 
and pawn. In this way I used to feed not only the people of the 
establishment, but all comers. There was great famine at the 
time, and this distribution of food was a great aUeviation of the 
sufferings of the people, so that the fame of it spread far and 
wide." 

Towards the end of his residence in India he fell for a time 
into great disfavour, the cause of which he relates in this way : — 

There was at Dehli a certain learned and pious shaikh called 
Shihab-uddin the son of Aljam the Elhorasani, whom Sultan 
Mahomed was desirous of employing in his service, but who posi- 
tively refused to enter it. On this the king ordered another 
doctor of theology, who was standing by, to pull out the shaikh's 
beard, and on his declining the office, the ruffian caused the beards 
of both to be plucked out ! Shaikh Shihaabuddin retired from the 
city and established himself in a country place some miles from 
Dehli, where he amused himself by forming a large cave, which he 
fitted up with a bath, supplied by water from the Jumna, and 
with other conveniences. The Sultan several times sent to sum- 
mon him, but he always refused to come, and at length said in 
plain words that he would never serve a tyrant. He was then 
arrested and brought before the tyrant himself, brutally mal- 
treated, and finally put to death. 

Ibn Batuta's curiosity had induced him to visit the shaikh in 
his cavern before this happened, and he thus incurred the dis- 
pleasure and suspicion of the Sultan. Four slaves were ordered 
to keep him under constant surveillance, a step which was gene- 
rally followed before long by the death of the suspected indivi- 
dual. Ibn Batuta, in his fear, betook himself to intense devotion 
and multiplied observances, among others to the repetition of a 



410 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

certain verse of the Koran 33,000 times in the day ! The sur- 
veillance being apparently relaxed, he withdrew altogether from 
the pnblic eye, gave all that he possessed to darveshes and the 
poor (he says nothing about his creditors), and devoted himself 
to an ascetic life under the tutelage of a certain holy shaikh in 
the neighbourhood of Dehli, called Kamal-uddin AbdaUah of the 
Cave, with whom he abode for five months. The king, who was 
then m Sind,^ hearing of Ibn Batuta's reform, sent for him to 
camp. He appeared before the Lord of the World (as Mahomed 
was caBed) in his hermit's dress, and was well received. Never- 
theless, he evidently did not yet consider his head at all safe, for 
he redoubled his ascetic observances. After forty days, however, 
the king summoned him again, and announced his intention of 
sending him on an embassy to China. According to Ibn Batuta's 
dates this appears to have been in the spring of 1342. 

The object of the proposed embassy was to reciprocate one 
which had arrived at court from the Emperor of China. The 
envoys had been the bearers of a present to Sultan Mahomed, 
which consisted of 100 slaves of both sexes, 500 pieces of cawi- 
mttcca,' of which 100^ were of the fabric of Zayton and 100 of 
that of Kingsse, five maunds of musk, five robes broidered with 
pearls, five quivers of cloth of gold, and five swords. And the 
professed object of the mission was to get leave to rebuild an 
idol temple (Buddhist, doubtless) on the borders of the mountain 
of Karachil, at a place called Samhal, whither the Chinese used 
to go on pilgrimage, and which had been destroyed by the 
Sultan's troops.^ Mahomed's reply was that it was not admissible 

i This- must have been on the oooasion of the revolt of Shahti the 
Afghan at Multan, who murdered the viceroy of the province and tried to 
set himself up as king. Though Defr^mery's chronological table does not 
mention that Saltan Mahomed himself marched to the soene of action, 
and Ibn Batata only says that " the Sultan made preparations for an 
expedition against him/' as the revolt is placed in this very year 1342, it 
is probable that he had advanced towards Maltan (iii, pp. xxi and 362), 
which according to the view of Ibn Batata was a city of Sind. 

3 See note, p. 293, auprcL, 

3 It is interesting to find this indication that perhaps the pilgrimages 
of the Chinese Buddhists to the ancient Indian holy phLces were still kept 
np, bat it may have been only the Tibetan subjects of the Great Khan 



IHTRODUCTOEY NOTICK. 411 

bj the principles of his religion to grant snoh a demand, unless 
in fikYonr of persona paying the poll-tax as subjects of his Gt>yem- 
ment. K the Emperor would go through the form of paying this 
he wonld be allowed to rebuild the temple.^ 

The embassy, headed by Ibn Batuta, was to convey this reply, 
and a return present of much greater value than that received. 
This was composed of 100 high-bred horses caparisoned, 100 
male slaves, 100 Hindu girls accon^lished in song and dance, 
100 pieces of the stuff called haircMm (these were of cotton, but 
matchless in quality),^ 100 pieces of silk stoS csHedjuz, 100 pieces 

who maintained the practice. In our own day I have seen such at Hard- 
w&r, who had crossed the Himalja^ from Mahachin as they said, to visit 
the boly fiame of Jaw&lamnkhi m the Punjab. Karachil is doubtless a 
coTrnption of the Saoflkrit Kuvevachal, a name of Mount EaiUs, where 
lies the city of Kuvera the Indian Plutus, and is here used for the 
Himalja. In another passage the author describes it as a range of vast 
mountains, three months' journey in extent, and distant ten days firom 
Dehli, which was invaded by M. Taghlak's army in a most disastrous ex- 
pedition (apparently the same which Fiiishta describes as a project for 
the invasion of China, though Ibn Batuta does not mention that object). 
He also speaks of it as the source of the river which flowed near Amroha 
(in the modem district of Moradab&d, probably tiie Bamgunga ; iii, 326 ; 
ii, 6 ; iti, 437). The same name va found in the form Kaldrchal, applied to a 
part of the Himalya by Bashid, or rather perhaps by Al-Birdni, whom 
he appears to be copying. This author distinguishes it from HarmaMt 
(Hema-Kuta, the Snow PeaJts, one form of the name Himalya), in which 
the Ganges rises, and says that the eternal snows of Kalarchal are visible 
from Tdka$ (Taxila ?) and Lahore (£ZHof« Mah. Historians, p. 30). Samhal 
is probably Samibhal, an ancient Hindu city of Bohilkhond (perhaps the 
Sapolus of Ptolemy P), also in ZiOah Moradabad. From other passages 
I gather that the province was called Sambhal at that time, and indeed 
so it was up to the time of Sultan Baber, when it formed the government 
of his son Humayun. I do not find that Sambhal itself has been recog- 
nized as the site of Buddhist remains, but very important remains of that 
character have been examined by M.-Gen. Cunningham, following the 
traoes of Hwen Thsang, at viuious places immediately to the north of 
Sambhal, and one of these may have been the site of the temple in question. 

> The JeM(a or "poU-tax...waB imposed, during the early oonquests, on 
all infidels who submitted to the Mahomed rule, and was the test by 
which they were distinguish from those who remained in a state of hosti- 
li^' (£lpMiu<o««, ii, 467). Its aboUtion was one of the beneficent acts 
of Akbar, but Aurangzib imposed it again. . 

' Probably Dacca muslins. Beirmni is a term for certain white Indian 
cloths which we find used by Varthema, Barbosa, and others, and in 
Milbum's Oriental Commerce we have the same article under the name 



412 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

of stuff called aalattiyah^ 100 pieces of shirmbaf, 100 of shanhaf, 
500 of woollen stuff (probably shawls), of which 100 were black, 
100 white, 100 red, 100 green, 100 bine ; 100 pieces of Greek 
linen, 100 cloth dresses, a great state tent and six pavilions, four 
golden candlesticks and six of silver, ornamented with Une 
enamel ; six silver basins, ten dresses of honour in brocade,^ ten 
caps, of which one was broidered with pearls ; ten quivers of bro- 
cade, one with pearls ; ten swords, one with a scabbard wrought in 
pearls ; gloves broidered with pearls ; and fifteen eunuchs. 

His colleagues in this embassy were the Amir Zahiruddin the 
Zinjani, a man of eminent learning, and the Eunuch E[afnr 
(Camphor) the Cup-bearer, who had charge of the presents. The 
Amir Mahomed of Herat was to escort them to the place of em- 
barcation with 1,000 horse, and the Chinese ambassadors, fifteen 
in number, the chief of whom was called Tursi," joined the party 
with about 100 servants. 

The king had apparently returned to Dehli before the despatch 
of the party, for the latter set out firom that city on the 22nd July, 
1342. Their route lay at first down the Doab as far as Kanauj, 
but misfortunes began before they had got far beyond the evening 
shadow of the Kutb Minar. For whilst they were at Kol (Koel 
or Aligarh, eighty mfles fi«m Dehli). having compUed with an 
invitation to take part in relieving the neighbouring town of 
Jalali from the attack of a body of Hindus,' they lost in the fight 

Byrampaut (i, 268). The Shanbc^f is np doubt the Sinabaffi of Yarthenus 
but more I caimot say. 

1 Mahomed Taghlak maintained an enormous royal establishment 
(analogous to the Gobelins) of weayers in silk and gold hrocade, to pro- 
vide stnfik for his presents, and for the ladies of the palaoe (Not. et Ex^ 
iraUs, xiii, 188). 

> A statesman called Twrshi was chief minister in China with great 
power, a few years after this, in 1347-48 (De Mailla, iz, 584). It is, how- 
ever, perhaps not probable that this was the same person, as the Indo- 
Chinese nations do not usually employ statesmen of a high rank on 
foreign embassies. 

* That work of this kind should be going on so near the capital shows 
perhaps that when Firishta says Mahomed's conquest of the distant pro- 
vinces of Dwara-Samudra, Maabar, and Bengal, etc., had incorporated 
them with the empire " as completely as the villages in the vicinity of 
Dehli," this may not have amounted to very much after all (Briggs, i, 413). 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 413 

twenty-five horsemen and fifly-five foot-men, including Kafnr 
the Ennnch. During a halt which ensued, Ibn Batuta, separa- 
ting from his companions, got taken prisoner, and though he 
escaped from the hands of his captors, did not get back to his 
friends for eight days, during which he went through some curi- 
ous adventures. The party were so disheartened by these inaus- 
picious beginnings that they wished to abandon the journey ; but, 
in the meantime, the Sultan had despatched his Master of the 
Robes, the Eunuch Sanbul (Spikenard) to take the place of Kafur 
defunct, and with orders for them to proceed. 

From EIanauj they turned southwards to the fortress of 
GwALios, which Ibn Batuta had visited previously, and had then 
taken occasion to describe with &ir accuracy. At Parwan, a 
place which they passed through on leaving Owalior, and which 
was much harassed by lions (probably tigers rather), the travel- 
ler heard that certain malignant Jogis were in the habit of as- 
suming the form of those animals by night. This gives him an 
opportunity of speaking of others of the Jogi class who used to 
allow themselves to be buried for months, or even for a twelve- 
month together, and afterwards revived. At Mangalore he after- 
wards made acquaintance with a Mussulman who had acquired 
this art from the Jogis.^ The route continued through Bundel- 
khand and Malwa to the city of Daulatabad, with its celebrated 
fortress of DwAiaiR (Deogiri), and thence down the Yalley of the 
Tapti to KiNBAUT (Cambay).' 

> This art, or the profession of it, is not yet extinct in India. A veiy 
cnrions aoooont of one of its professors will be found in a " PerswMl Nar- 
rative of a Towr ihrwitgh ihe States ofRajwara" (Caloatta» 1887, pp. 41-44), 
by my lamented friend M.-€teneral A. H. E. Boileau, and also in the 
Cowrt and Camp of Banjit Singh, by Captain Osborne, an officer on Lord 
Auckland's staff, to which I can only refer from memory. 

* I will here give the places past through by Ibn Batata on his route 
from Dehli to Cambay, with their identifications as far as practicable. 

Tilbat, 2i parasangs from This is perhaps TUputa, a village in the Dadri 
the city [. Parganah,thoagh this is some 17milee from 

old DehH. 
A^ ... Possibly Aduh, a Pargana town 8 miles west 

of Bulandshahr. 
HUii? 



414 



IBH BATUTA'S TRATEtS IV BtyOAL AND CHINA. 



From Gambay they went to Kawi:, a place on a tidal gulf be-^ 
longing to the Pagan Raja Jalanst, and thence to Kandahar, a 



Bei&na, *'a great place/' 
with fine inarkete, and 
of which one of the chief 
officers of state had been 
lately goremor. 

K6l, a fine <aty in a plain 
surrounded by mango 
orchards 

( JaUHi, the town relieved) 

Bmjburah 

Ab-i-Siyah 



Eanauj 

Hanaul, Waziipur 

BiVJ&lisah . 



City of Maori, Marh 

Al&ptir, ruled by an Abys- 
sinian at'Segro giant who 
could eat a whole sheep 
at once. A day's journey 
from this dwelt Katam the 
Pagan King of Jambil . 

GALria 

Varw&n, Amwari . 



Kajarri. Here there was 
a lake about a mile long 
surrounded by idol tem- 
ples« and with buildings 
in the water occupied by 
long-haired Jogis 



I beliere no sn<di name ii now traceable. 
Biana^ west of AgTa» was a very importa&t 
city and fortress in the middle ages« but is 
quite out of place here. 

Kotl, commonly now known as AJUgarh* from 
the great fort in the yicinity taken by Lord 
Lake. Jalali still exists^ 10 m. £. of KoeL 

There is a Yillage Birjpitr N.E. of Mainpiiri, 
on the line between Koel and Kanaig. 

A Persian rendering of the name of Kali' 
Nadi (Black Biver), which enters the Ganges 
near Kanatg. SharifUddin gives the same 
name in a Turkish Teraion« Kara Sm (H. d« 
Timur Bee, in, 121). 

Well known. 

Kot traced. The last a very common name. 

Must have been a plaoe of some note as it 
gave a name to one of the gates of Dehli 
(iii, 149, and note, p. 461). I should sup- 
pose it must have been near the Jumna, 
Btdwa perhaps, or at BaUiwar Feny. 

If the last was Btawa^ Maori may be Umri 
near Bhind. 

There is a place, Jauraaa Ala^pur, to the 
W.N.W. of Gwalior, where Sir Bobert 
Napier gained a brilliant victory over the 
Gwalior insurgents in 1858, but it seems 
too much out of the line. The Pagan king 
is perhaps the B%jah of Dholpdr on the 
Chamhdl. 
QicalioT. 

The first may be Panwdri in the Hamlrp^ 
Zillah, which would be in the line taken, if 
the next identification be correct. 

Appears to be mentioned as Kajrdhahy'RaBhid, 
quoted by Elliot (p. 37), who identifies both 
names with Kajrdi, on the banks of the Ken 
river in Bundelkhand, between Chattarp^ 
and Panna, which has ruins of great anti- 
quity and interest. If so, the route followed 
must have been very devious, owing perhaps 
to the interposition of insurgent districts. 



JNTBODUCTOEY NOTICB. 415 

considerable city on aiK)ther estnary, and belonging to the same 
prince, who profesaed loyalty to Dehli, and trea^d them hospi- 
tably. Here they took ship, three yesseU being provided for 
them. After two days they stopped to water at the Isle of Bairam, 
four miles from the main. This island had been formerly peopled, 
but it remained abandoned by the natives since its capture by 
the Mahomedana, though one of the king's officers had made an 
attempt to re-settle it, putting in a small garrison and mounting 
mangonels for its defence. Next day they were at Kukah, a 
great city with extensive bazars, anclioring four miles from the 
shore on account of the vast recession of the tide. This city be- 
longed to another pagan king, Dunkul, not too loyal to the 
Sultan. Three days' sail from this brought the party abreast 
of the Island of Sindabub, but they passed on and anchored under 
a smaller island near the mainland, in which there was a temple, a 



Chanderi, a great place A well known ancient city and fortress on the 

with splendid bazars . borders of Bondelkhand and Malwa, cap- 
tured by Sir Hagh Bose in 1858. Accord- 
ing to the Ayin Akbari (quoted by Bennell) 
it contained 14,000 stone houses. 
ZiHAa, the capital of Mai- Dhdr, say the French Editor. Bat appa- 

wa. There were inscribed rently the next station shocdd have come 

milestones all the way first in that case. 

from Dehli to this. 

Ujjaix . . Well known ancient city, K.E. of Dhar. 

(Asgari, where he tells us Amihera, a few miles S.W. by W. of Dhar ? 

{m, 137) he witnessed a 

Suttee). 

Bauuitabai) . Betains its name. It appears in Fra Mauro's 

map as Deuletabet, and in the C. CcUalana 
as Diogil (Deogiri). 
Nadharbar. The people Naderbar of Bennell, or Nandarhdr, on the 

her« and of the Daulata- south bank of the Tapti. 

bad territory Marhaidhi 

(iv, 48, 61). 
Saghar. a great town on a Saunghar on the Tapti. 

considerable river. 
KiNBAiAT, a very hand- Cambay, We find the t expressed by several 

some city full of foreign of the old authors, as by Marino Sanudo 

merchants, on an estuary (Camheth), by Fra Mawro (ConAait); and 

of the sea in which the much later the Jesuits of Akbar's time 

tide rose and fell in a r^ have Camhaietta. 

markable manner. 



416 IBN BATUTA'S travels IK BENGAL AND CHINA. 

grove, and a piece of water. Landing here, the traveller had a 
cnrions adventnre with a Jogi, whom he fonnd by the wall of the 
temple.^ Next day thej came to Hunawab (or Onore), a city 
governed by a Mahomedan prince with great power at sea ; ap- 
parently a pirate, like his successors in later times, bat an en- 
lightened ruler, for Ibn Batuta found in his city twenty-three 
schools for boys and thirteen for girls, the latter a thing which he 
had seen nowhere else in his travels.' 

After visiting several of the northern ports of Malabar, then 
very numerous and flourishing, they arrived at Calicut, which 
the traveller describes as one of the finest ports in the world, 
frequented for trade by the people of China, the Archipelago, 
Ceylon, the Maldives, Yemen, and the Persian Gulf. Here they 
were honourably received by the king, who bore the title of 
Samari (t^e Zamorin of the Portuguese), and made their land- 
ing in great state. But all this was to be followed by speedy 
grief, as the traveller himself observes. 

At Calicut they abode for three months, awaiting the seaaon 
for the voyage to China, viz., the spring. All the communication 
with that country, according to Ibn Batuta (the fact itself is 
perhaps questionable) was conducted in Chinese vessels, of which 
there were three classes : the biggest called Junk^ the middle- 
sized Zao^ and the third Kakam? The greater ships had fix>m 

' For the identification of the places fiK>m Cambay to Hunawar I must 
refer to Note B at the end of this Introdaction. AjBsaming, as there 
argued, that Sinddbtir was Qoa, the small island was probably Anchediva, 
a fifcyourite anchorafre of the early Portuguese. " In the middle of it is a 
large lake of fresh water, bat the island is deserted ; it may be two miles 
from the mainland; it was in former times inhabited by the Gentoos, 
but the Moors of Mecca used to take this route to Calicut, and used to 
stop here to take in wood and water, and on that account it has ever 
since been deserted" {Voyage of Pedro Alvaru Cabral, Lisbon, 181 2, 
p. 118). 

' He says the Saltan of Hanawar was subject to a Pagan monarch 
called Sariah, of whom he promises to speak again, but does not do so, 
unless, as is probable, he was the same as Bilal Deo (the Biga of Kar- 
nata), of whom he speaks at iv, p. 195. 

> The French editors derive these three words from Chinese terms, 
said to be respectively, Chutn, 8<m or Seu, and Hoa-luing (M. Paathier 
corrects these two last to Taao or ClUu, and Hoa^hwdn, ' merdiant-vesael,' 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 417 

three to twelve sails, made of strips of bamboo woven like mats. 
Each of them had a crew of 1,000 men, viz., 600 sailors and 400 
soldiers, and had three tenders attached, which were called re- 
spectively the Halfy the Thirds and the Quarter^ names apparently 
indicating their proportionate size. The vessels for this trade 
were built nowhere except at Zaitun and Sinkalan, the city also 
called Sm-UL-SiN,^ and were all made with triple sides, fastened 
with enormous spikes, three cubits in length. Each ship had 
four decks, and nmnerons private and public cabins for the 
merchant passengers, with closets and all sorts of conveniences.^ 
The sailors frequently had pot-herbs, ginger, &c., growing on 
board in wooden tubs. The commander of the ship was a very 
great personage,^ and, when he landed, the soldiers belonging to 
his ship marched before him with sword and spear and martial 
music. 

M. Polo, p. 656). I may venture at least to suggest a doubt of this deri- 
vation. Junk is certainly the Malay and Javanese Jong or Ajong, 'a great 
ship' (v. Crawfurd's Malay Diet, in voeib.); whilst Zao may just as probably 
be the jDAoo or Dao, which is to this day the common term on all the 
shores of the Indian Ocean, I believe from Malabar westward, for the 
queer old-fashioned high-stemed craft of those coasts, the Tava of Atha- 
nasius Nikitin's voyage from Hormuz to Cambay. " Dow" sajs Burton, 
" IB used on the Zanzibar coast for craft generally" (J. B. Q, S,, zxix, 239.) 

> We have already seen that Sinkalan is Canton (supra, pp. 105 and 
268), and Ibn Batuta here also teaches us to identify it with the Sinia- 
ul-Sin of Edrisi, which that geographer describes as lying at one extre- 
mity of the Chinese empire, unequalled for its size, edifices and com- 
merce, and crowded with merchants from all the parts of India towards 
China. It was the residence, he says, of a Chinese Prince of the Blood, 
who governed it as a vassal of the Fag/ur (the Facfur of Polo, i. e., the 
Sung Emperor of Southern China; see Jauherfa Edrisi, i, 193). 

- This account of the great Jimks may be compared with those given 
by M. Polo (iii, c. 1), and F. Jordanus (p. 54). 

' Because Ibn Batuta says the skipper "was like a great Amir" 
Lassen assumes that he was an Aroh, For this there seems no ground. 
Further on Ibn Batuta caUs Kurtai the Viceroy of Kingsz^, who is ex- 
pressly said to be a Pagan, " a great Amir." All that he means to say 
of the captain might be most accurately expressed in the vulgar term " a 
very great swell." 

Whilst referring to Lassen's remarks upon Ibn Batuta towards the 
end of the fourth volume of his Indian Antiquities, I am constrained to 
say that the carelessness exhibited in this part of that great work makes 
one stand aghast, coming from a man of such learning and reputation. 

27 



418 iBN batuta's travels jn bengal and china. 

The oars or sweeps used on these great jnnks were more like 
masts than oars, and each was pulled by &om ten to thirty men. 
They stood to their work in two ranks, facing each other, pulling 
by means of a strong cable fastened to the oar (which itself was, 
I suppose, too great for their grasp), and singing out to the stroke, 
La, La ! La, La ! 

The only ports of Malabar frequented for trade by the China 
vessels were Kaulam, Calicut, and Hili ;^ but those which intended 
to pass the Monsoon in India, used to go into the harbour of 

•Such a statement needs support, and I refer for it to Note G at the end 
of this Introduction. 

^ Scarcely any change in India, since the days of our travellers, is more 
remarkable than the decay of the numerous porta, flourishing with foreign 
as well as domestic trade, which then lined the shores of the country ; 
and the same remark applies in degree also to the other countries of 
Southern Asia, both eastward and westward of India. The commence- 
ment of this decay appears to date nearly from the arrival of the Portu- 
guese, for at that time most of the ports were found still in an active and 
prosperous state. Somewhat similar circumstances have had course in 
our own countiy. The decay of the Cinque Forts can plead natural dete- 
rioration, but a more striking parallel occurs on the shores of the Firth 
of Forth, once lined with seaports which each sent out its little squadron 
of merchant-vessels, the property of local owners, to the Continental 
trade ; ports which now, probably, can boast only a few fishing-boats, 
and " merchants*' only in the French and old Scotch sense of the term. 

The decay of the Malabar ports may have begun in forcible monopoly 
and in devastating wars, from which the country had previously long en- 
joyed a comparative exemption, but it has been kept up no doubt by that 
concentration of capital in the hands of large houses, which more and more 
characterizes modem commerce, and is in our days advancing with more 
rapid strides than ever, whilst this cause is being reinforced by that con- 
centration of the streams of produce which is induced by the construction 
of Trunk Kailways. Whatever be the causes, it seems to me impos- 
sible to read these old travellers without at least an impression that 
wealth, prosperity, and probably happiness, were then far more generally 
diffused on the shores of India than they are now. Is there any ground 
for hope that the present state of things may be one of transition, and 
that at a future day the multiplication of railways will diminish this 
intense concentration, and again sow the coasts of India with seats of 
healthy trade and prosperity P If so, it will not be done by railways of 
wide gauge and heavy cost like those now made in India. 

In a note (D) at the end of this Introduction, I propose to append a 
review of the Ports of Malabar as they were known frt>m the thirteenth 
to the sixteenth century. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 419 

Fakdaiuina for that purpose. Thirteen of these ships, of dif- 
ferent sizes, were lying at Calient when Ibn Batata's party were 
there. 

The Zamorin prepared accommodation on board one of the 
jnnks for the party from Dehli ; bnt Ibn Batnta, having ladies 
with him, went to the agent for the vessel, a Mahomed&n called 
Snleiman nl-Safadi-nl-Shami, to obtain a private cabin for them, 
having, it would seem, in his nsnal happy-go-lucky way, deferred 
this to the last moment. The agent told him that the cabins were 
all taken np by the Chinese merchants, who had (apparently) " re- 
turn tickets." There was one, indeed, belonging to his own son- 
in-law, which Ibn Batuta could have, but it was not fitted up ; how- 
ever if he took that now, probably he would be able to make some 
better arrangement on the voyage ; (it would seem from this that 
shipping agency in those days was a good deal like what it some- 
times is now). So one Thursday afternoon our traveller's bag- 
gage and slaves, male and female, were put on board, whilst he 
stayed ashore to attend the Friday service before embarking. His 
colleagues, with the presents for China, were already on board. 
But the next morning early, the Eunuch Hilal, Ibn Batuta's ser- 
vant, came to complain that the cabin assigned to them was a 
wretched little hole, and would never do. Appeal was made to 
the captain, but he said it could not be helped ; if, however, they 
liked to go in a kakam which was there, they might pick and 
choose. Our traveller consented, and had his goods and his 
women-kind transferred to the kakam before public prayer time. 
In the afternoon the sea rose (it always did in the afternoon, he 
observes), and it was impossible to embark. By this time the 
China ships were all gone except that with the presents, another 
jonk which was going to stop over the monsoon at Fandaraina, 
and the kakam, on which all the Moor's property was embarked. 
When he got np on Saturday morning the junk with his col- 
leagues, and the kakam, had weighed, and got outside the har- 
bour. The junk bound for Fandaraina was wrecked inside. 
There was a young girl on board, much beloved by her 
master, a certain merchant. He offered ten pieces of gold to 

any one who would save her. One of the sailors from Hormuz 

272 



420 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

did save her, at the imminent risk of his life, and then refnsed 
the reward. '^ I did it for the love of God," said this good man. 
The junk with the presents also was wrecked on the reefs outside, 
and all on board perished. Many bodies were cast up by the waves ; 
among others those of the Envoy Zahir-uddin, with the skull 
fractured, and of Malik Sunbul the eunuch, with a nail through 
his temples. Among the rest of the people who flocked to the 
shore to see what was going on, there came down the Zamorin 
himself, with nothing on but a scrap of a turban and a white cot- 
ton dJioii^ attended by a boy with an umbrella. And, to crown 
all, when the kakam*s people saw what had befallen their consort, 
they made all sail to seaward, carrying off with them our travel- 
ler's slaves, his girls and gear, and leaving him there on the 
beach of Calicut gazing after them, with nought remaining to 
him but his prayer-carpet, ten pieces of gold, and an emancipated 
slave, which last absconded forthwith ! 

He was told that the kakam mtist touch at Kaulam, so he de- 
termined to go thither. It was a ten days' journey, whether by 
land or water, so he set off by the lagoons with a Mussulman 
whom he had hired to attend on him, but who got continually 
drunk, and only added to the depression of the traveller's spirits. 
On the tenth day he reached Kaulam, the Columbum of our friars, 
which he describes as one of the finest cities of Malabar, with 
splendid bazaars, and wealthy merchants, there termed Stdi^^ 
some of whom were Mahomedans. There was also a Mahomedan 
Kazi and Shabandar (Master Attendant), &c, Kapli^ni ^^s the 
first port at which the China ships touched on reaching India, 
and most of the Chinese merchants frequented it. The king was 
an Infidel, called Tirawari,^ a man of awful justice, of which a 

1 Chulia ia a name applied to the Mahomedans in Malabar. The origin 
of it seems to be unknown to Wilson (Olossary, in v.). The name is also 
applied to a partictdar class of the " Moors" or Mahomedans in Ceylon 
(/. R, A. 8., iiij 338). It seems probable that this was the word intended 
by the author. 

^ This title THrawari may perhaps be Tirvhtidi, which Fra Paolino men- 
tions among the sounding titles assumed by the princes of Malabar 
" which were often mistaken for the proper names of families or indivi- 
duals." He translates it tua Maestdi, but literally it is probably Tiru 
(Tamul) " Holy/' and PaH (Sansc.) " Lord." (See F. dlXe Indie Orientali, 
Boma, 1796, p. 103.) 



INTEODUCTORY NOTICE. 421 

startling instance is cited by Ibn Batata. One day when the 
king was riding with his son-in-law, the latter picked np a mango, 
which had fallen over a garden waU. The king's eye was npon 
him ; he was immediately ordered to be ripped open and divided 
asunder, the parts being exposed on each side of the way, and a 
half of the fatal mango beside each ! 

The unfortunate ambassador could hear nothing of his kakam, 
but he fell in with the Chinese envoys who had been wrecked in 
another junk. They were refitted by their countrymen at Kau- 
1am, and got off to China, where Ibn Batata afterwards encoun- 
tered them. 

He had sore misgivings about returning to tell his tale at 
Dehli, feeling strong suspicion that Sultan Mahomed would be 
only too glad to have such a crow to pluck with him. So he 
decided on going to his friend the Sultan Jamal-uddin at Hun4- 
war, and to stop with him till he could hear some ^ news of the 
missing Kakam. The prince received him, but evidently with 
no hearty welcome. For the traveller tells us that he had no 
servant allowed him, and spent nearly all his time in the mosque 
— always a sign that things were going badly with Ibn Batuta — 
where he read the whole Koran through daily, and by and bye 
twice a day. So he passed his time for three months. 

The King of Hunawur was projecting an expedition against 
the Island of Sind^bur. Ibn Batuta thought of joining it, and 
on taking the Sortes Koranica he turned up xxii, 41, " Surely 
God will succour those who succour Him;*' which so pleased 
the king that he determined to accompany the expedition also. 
Some three months after the capture of Sindabur the restless 
man started again on his travels, going down the coast to Cali- 
cut. Here he fell in with two of his missing slaves, who toJd him 
that his favourite girl was dead ; that the King of Java (probably 
Sumatra) had appropriated the other women, and that the rest 
of the party were dispersed, some in Java, some in China, some 
in Bengal. So there was an end of the E^akam. 

He went back to Hunawur and Sindabur, where the Mussul- 
man forces were speedily beleaguered by the Hindu prince whom 
they had expelled. Things beginning to look bad, Ibn Batuta, 



422 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

after some two months' stay, made his escape and got back to 
Calient. Here he took it into his head to visit the Dhibat-ul- 
Mahal or Maldive Islands, of which he had heard wonderfnl 
stories. 

One of the marvels of these islands was that they were nnder 
a female sovereign,^ Kadija, daughter of the late Snltan Jalal- 
nddin Omar, who had been set up as queen on the deposition of 
her brother for misconduct. Her husband, the preacher Jamal- 
uddin, actually governed, but all orders were issued in the name 
of the princess, and she was prayed for by name in the Friday 
Service. 

Ibn Batuta was welcomed to the islands, and was appointed 
Ejazi, marrying the daughter of one of the Wazirs and three 
wives besides. The lax devotion of the people and the primitive 
costume of the women affected his pious heart ; he tried hard 
but in vain to reform the latter, and to introduce the system 
that he had witnessed at Urghanj, of driving folk to mosque on 
Friday with the constable's staff. 

Before long he was deep in discontent quarrels and intrigrues, 
and in August 1344 he lefl the Maldives for Ceylon. 

As he approached the island he speaks of seeing the Moun- 
tain of Serendib (compare Marignolli's Mon8 Seyllam) rising 
high in air ^' like a column of smoke." He landed at Batthalah 
(Patlam), where he found a Pagan chief reigning, a piratical 
potentate called Airi Shakarwati, who treated him civilly and 
facilitated his making the journey to Adam's Peak, whilst his 
skipper obligingly promised to wait for him.^ 

^ Ab to the occasional prevalence of female rule in the Maldive Islands 
see introduction to Marignolli, p. 322. 

^ Arya Chdkravarti is found in Oeylonese histoiy as the name of a 
great warrior who commanded an army sent by Eulasaikera, who is 
called King of the Pandyans or people of the Madura country, which in- 
vaded Ceylon in 1314. The same name re-appears as if belonging to the 
same individual in or about 1371, when he is stated to have erected forts 
at Colombo, Negombo and Chilaw, and after reducing the northern divi- 
sion of Ceylon, to have fixed the seat of government at Jaffiiapatam. It is 
probable of course that these were two different persons, and indeed one 
authority speaks of the first Arya as being captured and put to death 
in the reign of Prakrama Bahu III (1314-1319). The second must have 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 423 

In his jonmey he passes Manar Mandali,^ and the port of 
Salawat,' and then crosses extensive plains abounding in ele- 
phants. These however did no harm to pilgrims and fo- 
reigners,* owing to the benignant influence exercised over them 
by the Shaikh Aba Abdallah, who first opened the road to the 
Holy Footmark. He then reached Kunakar^ as he calls it, the 
residence of the lawful King of Ceylon, who was entitled Kun&r, 
and possessed a white elephant. Close to this city was the pool 
called the Pool of Precious Stones, out of which some of the 
most valuable gems were extracted. His description of the 
ascent to the summit is vivid and minute, and probably most of 
the sites which he speaks of could be identified by the aid of 
those who act as guides to Mahomedan pilgrims, if such there 
still be. He descends on the opposite side (towards Batnapura), 
and proceeds to visit Dinwar, a large place on the sea, inhabited 
by merchants (Devi-neuera or Dondera), where a vast idol 
temple then existed, Oalle (which he calls Kali), and Coluhbo 
(KcUatdm), so returning by the coast to Patlam. Columbo is 

commenced his career long before the date in the Cejlonese annals^ as 
Ibn Batata shows him established with royal authority at Patlam in 
1344 (Twmour'a Epitome of the History of Ceylon, Cotta Oh. M. Press, 
1836, p. 47; Pridham, pp. 77-78; Uphcm's Bajavali, 264-269). Tennent 
supposes the Pandyan invaders to have come from Jaffhapatam, where 
they were already established, and not firom the continent. Indeed we 
see from Ibn Batata that the original Pandyan territory was now in 
MiittnlTWATi hands. 

' Minneri Mandel of Tennent's Map, on the coast immediately abreast 
of Patlam. 

' ChUaw of oar maps. 

> See Odoric, p. 100. 

* Sir J. Emerson Tennent considers this to be Qampola, called classic- 
ally Oungt^-tri-pura, the name which he supposes to be aimed at in Ibn 
Batata's Kunak^r. With all respect for such an authority I think that 
it more probably represents Kurunaigalla or Komegalle, which was the 
ci^ital of the lawful sovereigns of Ceylon from about 1319 till some year 
after 1847. Daring this period the dynasty was in extreme depression, 
and little is recorded except the names of the kings, Bhuwaneka Baha II, 
Pandita Prakrama Bahu lY, Wanny Bhuwaneka Bahu III, W^aya- 
baha V. It must have been in the reign of one or other of the two last 
that Ibn Batuta visited the capital. The name JTvndr applied to him by 
the traveller is perhaps the Sanskrit Kunwar, " The Prince". (See Turn- 
our's Spitome, quoted above). 



424 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

described as even then one of the finest cities of the island. It 
yfas the abode of the " Wazir and Admiral Jalasti/* who kept 
about him a body of 500 Abjssinianfi. This personage is not 
impossibly the same with the Khwaja Jahan, who so politely 
robbed John Marignolli (anfe, p. 357). It is not said whose Wazir 
and Admiral he was. 

At Patlam he took ship again for Maabar, but as he approached 
his destination he again came to grief, the ship grounding some six 
or eight miles from the shore. The crew abandoned the wreck, 
but our hero stuck by it, and was saved by some pagan natives. 

On reaching the land, he reported his arrival to the de facto 
ruler of the country. This was the Sultan Ghaiassuddin of 
Damgh4n, recently invested with the government of Maabar, 
a principality originally set up by his father-in-law, the Sherif 
JaJaluddin. The latter had been appointed by Mahomed Tughlak 
to the military command of the province, but about 1338-39 had 
declared himself independent, striking coin in his own name, 
and proclaiming himself under the title of Ahhsan Shah Sultan. 
Ibn Batuta, during his stay at Dehli, had married one of the 
SheriFs daughters, named Hhumasab. " She was a pious 
woman," says her husband, " who used to spend the night in 
watching and prayer. She could read, but had not learned to 
write. She bore me a daughter, but what is become of either the 
one or the other is more than I can tell!" Thus Ibn Batuta 
was brother-in-law to the reigning Sultan, who, on receiving 
the traveller's message, sent for him to his camp, two days' 
journey distant. This brother-in-law was a ruffian, whose cruel 
massacres of women and children excited the traveller's disgust 
and tacit remonstrance. However, he busied himself in engaging 
the Sultan in a scheme for the invasion of the Maldives, but 
before it came to anything the chief died of a pestilence. His 
nephew and successor. Sultan Nasiruddin, was ready to take up 
the project, but Ibn Batuta got a fever at the capital, Muttra 
(Madura), and hurried off to Faitan,^ a large and fine city on the 

1 This FaMan of Maabar is also mentioned by Bashid, in coigonction 
with Malifattan and Kdtl, in a passage quoted at p. 219 supra (see also 
p. 221). I am not able to identify it. It may have been Negapatam, bat 
fi*om the way in which our traveller speaks of it, it would seem to have 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 425 

sea, with an admirable harbonr, where he found ships sailing for 
Yemen, and took his passage in one of them as far as Kanlam. 

Here he stayed for three months, and then went off for the 
fonrth time to visit his friend the Saltan of Hunawur. On his 
way, however, off a small island between Fakantir and Hnnawnr 
(probably the Pigeon Island of modem maps), the vessel was 
attacked by pirates of the wrong kind, and the nnlncky adven- 
turer was deposited on the beach stript of everything but his 
drawers ! On this occasion, as he mentions elsewhere incident- 
ally, he lost a number of transcripts of epitaphs of celebrated 
persons which he had made at Bokhara, along with other mat- 
ters, not improbably including the notes of his earlier travels.^ 
Returning to Calicut he was clothed by the charity of the Faith- 
ful. Here also he heard news of the Maldives ; the Preacher 
Jamaluddin was dead, and the Queen had married another of the 
Wazirs ; moreover one of the wives whom he had abandoned had 
borne him a son.' He had some hesitation about returning to 

been the port of the city of Madura, and therefore I should rather look 
for it in the vicinity of Bamnad, as at Devi-patam or Killikarai, which 
have both been ports of some consideration. A place also called Perio- 
patan, near Bamanancor« is mentioned by the historians of the Jesuit 
missions as mach frequented for commerce, and as the chief town of the 
Paravas of the Fishery coast, but I do not find it on any map (Jarric, i, 
628). Pattan or Fattan was probably the Mabar city of John Monte- 
corrino and Marco Polo (see p. 216), and may be that which Abulfeda 
(probably by some gross mistranscription) calls Biyarddwal, "residence 
of the Prince of Mabar, whither horses are imported from foreign coon- 
triee." There ia indeed a place called Ninarkovil, near Bamnad, cele- 
brated for a great temple (J. B. A, 8,, iii, 165), which may be worth 
mentioning, because the difference between these two rather peculiar 
names (Biyardiwal and Nfnarq&wal) would be almost entirely a matter 
of diacritical points; Kail and Malifattan (or Molephatam) are both to be 
sought in the vicinity of Taticorin (see Fr, Jordanus, p. 40). Malifattan 
is no doubt the Manifattan of Abulfeda, "a city of Mabar on the sea 
shore" (see QUdemeitter, p. 185). 

1 See iii, 28. 

' He says this boy was now two years old. As the child was not born 
when Ibn Batuta left the Maldives in August 1344, his second visit must 
have been (accordiug to this datum) at least as late as August 1346, and 
perhaps some months later. He goes to China (at the earliest) during 
the succeeding spring, and yet his book teUs us that he is back from his 
China expedition and in Arabia by May 1347. There is here involved an 
error one way or the other of at least one year, and of two years if we 



426 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

the Islands, as he well might, considering what he had been 
plotting against them, but encouraged by a new cast of the 
Sortes he went and was civilly received. His expectations how- 
over, or his caprices, were disappointed, for he seems to have 
stayed bnt fiye days and then went on to Bengal. 

Ibn Batnta's account of what he saw in Bengal, and on his 
subsequent voyage through the Archipelago, will be given in 
extracts or in more detailed abstract, in connexion with the fall 
text of his travels in China. We now therefore take up this 
short account of his adventures from the time of his return from 
the latter country. 

After coming back from China he proceeded direct &om Mala- 
bar to the coast of Arabia, visiting again Dhafar, Maskat, Hor- 
muz, Shiraz, Ispahan, Tuster, Basrah, Meshid Ali and Baghdad, 
and thence went to Tadmor and Damascus, where he had left a 
wife and child twenty years before, but both apparently were 
now dead. Here also he got his first news from home, and heard 
of his father's death fifteen years previously. He then went on 
to Hamath and Alejppo, and on his return to Damascus found the 
Black Death raging to such an extent that two thousand four 
hundred died in one day. Proceeding by Jerusalem to Egypt 
he repeated the Mecca pilgrimage for the last time, and finally 
turned his face away from the East. Travelling by land to Tunis 
he embarked in a ship of Catalonia. They touched at Sardinia 
(Jazirah Sarddniah), where they were threatened with capture, 
and thence proceeded to Tenes on the Algerine coast, whence he 
reached Fez, the capital of his native country, on the 8th Novem- 
ber 1349, after an absence of twenty-four years. 

Here he professes to have rejoiced in the presence of his own 
Sultan, whom he declares to surpass all the mighty monarchs of 
the East ; in dignity him of Irak, in person him of India, in 
manner him of Yemen, in courage the king of the Turks, in 
long-suffering the Emperor of Constantinople, in devotion him 
of Turkestan, and in knowledge him of Java !* a list of corn- 
depend on Ibn Batata's own details of the time occupied by his expedi- 
tion to China. See a note on this towards the end of Ms narrative (if^a). 

s In another passa^ he names as the seven greatest and most powerful 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 427 

pariaons so oddly selected as to suggest the possibility of irony. 
After all that he had seen, he comes, like Friar Jordanns, to the 
conclusion that there is no place like his own Wbst.» " "Tis the 
best of all countries. You have fruit in plenty ; good meat and 
water are easily come at, and in fact its blessings are so many 
that the poet has hit the mark when he sings, 

" Of all the Four Quarters of Heaven the best 
(I'll prove it past question) is surely the West ! 
'Tis the West is the goal of the Sun's daily race ! 
'Tis the West that firat shows you the Moon's silver fiEMse ! 

" The dirhems of the West are but little ones 'tis true, but then 
you get more for them !" — just as in the good old days of another 
dear Land of the West, where, if the pound was but twenty 
pence, the pint at least was two quarts ! 

Afler a time he went to visit his native city of Tangier, thence to 
Ceuta, and then crossed over into Spain (aZ AndoMs), going to 
see GKbraltar, which had just then been besieged " by the Latin 
tyrant, Adftinus " (Alphonso XL)^ From the Rock he proceeded 

sovereigns in the world, 1. His own master, the Commander of the Faith- 
ful, viz., the King of Fez ; 2. The Sultan of Egypt and Syria; 3. The 
Saltan of the two Iraks ; 4. The Sultan Mahomed Uzbek of Kipchak ; 
5. The Sultan of Turkestan and Mawarannahr (Chagatai) ; 6. The Sultan 
of India; 7. The Sultan of China (ii, 382). Von Hammer quotes from 
Ibn Batuta also (though I cannot find the passage) the following as the 
characteristic titles of the seven great kings of the earth. The list diifers 
from the preceding. 1. The TakfAr of Constantinople ; 2. The Sultdn of 
Egypt ; 3. The King (Malik ?) of the Iraks ; 4. The Khdkdn of Turkestan ; 
5. The Maharaja of India; 6. The Faglif<ur of China; 7. The Khan of 
Kipchak {QeBcK der Oold. Horde, p. 800). 

The King of Fez in question, Ibn Batuta's lord, was Faris Abu ImAn, 
of the house of Beni Merin of Fez, who usurped the throne during his 
other's lifetime in 1348, and died miserably, smothered in bed by some 
of his courtiers, November 13&8. In a rescript, of his granting certain 
commercial privileges to the Pisans, 9th April, 1368, he is styled King of 
Fes, Mequinez, Sallee, Morocco, Sus, Segelmessa, Teza, Telemsen, Algiers, 
Bugia, Costantina, Bona, Biskra, Zab, Media, Qafsa, Baladt-ul-Jarfd, 
Tripoli, Tangier, Ceuta, Gibraltar and Bonda, i.e., of the whole of Bar- 
baiy from Tripoli to the Atlantic coast facing the Canary Islands. But 
his claim to the eastern part of this territory must have been titular only, 
as his &ther had just lost them when Abu Iman seized the government. 
(Amari, Diplomi Arabi del B, Arch, Fioreniino, pp. 309> 476). 

» Fr, Jord., p. 65. 

^ ThfUfhiah'uURum. Amori remarks (op. eU., pp. ix-x) : " The early 



428 IBN BATUTA^S TRAVELS IN BENGAL AND CHINA. 

to Bonda and Malaga, Velez, Alhama and Granada, and thence 
returned, by Gibraltar, Centa, and Morocco, to Fez. Bnt his 
travels were not yet over. In the beginning of 1352 he set out 
for Central Africa, his first halt being at Seoelmessa, where the 
dates in their abundance and excellence recalled but surpassed 
those of Basra.' Here it was that be lodged with the brother of 
that Al Bushri who had treated him so handsomely in the heart 
of China. 

On his way south he passed Taghaza, a place where the houses 
and mosques were built of rock-salt, and roofed with camel- 
hides,^ and at length reached Malli, the capital of Sudan.' 
Here he abode eight months, after which he went to Timbuktu, 
and sailed down the Niger to Kaukau, whence he travelled to 
Takadda. The Niger he calls the Nile, believing it to flow 
towards Dongola, and so into Egypt, an opinion which was 
maintained in our own day shortly before Lander's discovery, if 
I remember rightly, by the Quarterly Bev^lew. The traveller 
mentions the hippopotamus in the river. 

He now received a command from his own sovereign for his 
return to Fez, and left Takadda for Tawat, by the country of 

Mahomedans used to call all the Christians of Europe Riim, i.e., Bomans, 
but at a later date chose to diatinguish between the Greek and German 
races, the subjects of the two empires, by applying the term Farang, i.e.» 
Franks, to the Western Christians, and Rum to the Byzantines ; whilst 
not well knowing what to make of the Latin race, headleMs as it was, 
they called the Italians and Spanish Christians sometimes Rim and 
sometimes Farang." The same author says elsewhere that Thdgiah was 
applied to Christian princes almost in the Greek sense of Tyrannu$, i.e., 
as impngning the legality rather than the abase of their power. 

^ Segelmessa was already ruined and deserted in the time of Leo Afri- 
canus (RamMsio, i, 74). According to Beinaad it was in the same valley 
with the modem TafiUlt, if not identical with it. I think dates from the 
latter place (Tafilat) are exhibited in the windows of London fruiterers. 

' TaghoMai is an oasis in the heart of the Sahra, on the caravan route 
from Tafilelt to Timbuktu, near the Tropic. On the salt-built houses of 
the Sahra Oases see Herodotus, iv, 185, and notes in Bawlinson's edition. 

' In passing the great Desert beyond Taghaza he g^ves us another in- 
stance of the legends alluded to at p. 157, supra. " This vast plain is 
haunted by a multitude of demons ; if the messenger is alone they sport 
with him and fascinate him, so that he strays from his course and 
perishes" (iv, 382). 



INTRODUCTOEY NOTICE. 429 

Hakkab,! on the 12th September, 1353, reaching Fez, and the 
termination of those at least of his wanderings which are re- 
corded, in the beginning of 1354, after they had lasted for eight 
and twenty years, and had extended over a length of at least 
75,000 EngUsh mUes.* 

Soon after this the history of his travels was committed to 
writing nnder orders from the Sultan, bnt not by the traveller's 
own hand. It would appear, indeed, that he had at times kept 
notes of what he saw, for in one passage he speaks of having 
been robbed of them. But a certain Mahomed Ibn Juzai, the 
Sultan's Secretary, was employed to reduce the story to writing as 
Ibn Batuta told it, (not however without occasionally embellishing 
it by quotations and pointless anecdotes of his own), and this work 
was brought to a conclusion on the 13th December, 1355, just 
about the time that John Marignolli was putting his reminiscences 
of Asia into a Bohemian Chronicle. The editor, Ibn Juzai con- 
cludes thus : — 

" Here ends what I have put into shape from the memoranda 
of the Shaikh Abu Abdallah Mahomed Ibn Batuta, whom may 
God honour ! No person of intelligence can fail to see that this 
Shaikh is the Traveller of Our Age ; and he who should call 
him the Traveller of the whole Body of Islam would not go 
beyond the truth." 

Ibn Batuta long survived his amanuensis, and died in 1377-78, 
at the age of seventy-three. 

The first detailed information communicated to Europe regard- 
ing his travels was published in a German periodical, about 1808, 
by Seetzen,' who had obtained an abridgment of the work in the 

1 MeUe, south of Timbuktu, Oogo or Oago, on the Niger, south-east of 
the same, Takctdda, Hogar, and Tawat, are all I think to be found in Dr. 
Barth's Map in the /. £. O. 8, for 1860, but I have it not accessible at 
present. It is remarkable that the Catalan Map of 1375 contains most 
of these Central African names, vie., Tagaza, Melli, Tenbuch, Qeugeu, 
The first three are also mentioned by Cadamosto. 

' This is the result of a rough compass measurement, without any 
allowance for deviations or for the extensive journeys he probably made 
daring his eight years' stay in India, etc. 

' The proper title of the book is, " A CUftfor the Observing, wherein are 
setfwrth the Curiotitiee of Citiee and the Wonders of Travel." 






430 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

East, with other MSS. collected for the Ootha library. In 1818 
Kosegarten published at Jena the text and translation of three 
fragments of the same ^abridgement. A Mr. Apetz edited a 
fourth, the description of Malabar, in ] 819. In the same year 
Burckhardt's Nubian Travels were published in London, the 
appendix to which contained a note on Ibn Batuta, of whose 
work the Swiss traveller had procured a much fuller abridg- 
ment than that at Gotha. Three MSS. of this abridgment were 
obtained by Cambridge University, after Bnrckhardt's death, and 
from these Dr. Lee made his well-known version for the Oriental 
Translation Fund (London, 1829). 

It was not, however, until the French conquest of Algiers, and 
capture of Gonstantina, that manuscripts of the unabridged work 
became accessible. Of these there are now five in the Imperial 
Libraiy of Paris, two only being complete. One of these two, 
however, has been proved to be the autograph of Ibn Juzai, the 
original editor. 

P. Jos^ de St. Antonio Moura published at Lisbon, in 1840, 
the first volume of a Portuguese translation of the whole work, 
from a manuscript which he had obtained at Fez in the end of 
the last century. I believe the second volume also has been 
issued within the last few years. 

The part of the Travels which relates to Sudan was translated, 
with notes, by Baron McGuckin de Slane, in the Journal AsioMque 
for March, 1843 ; that relating to the Indian Archipelago, by 
M. Ed. Dulaurier, in 1847; that relating to the Crimea and 
Kipchak, by M. Defr^mery, in 1850; and the chapter on the 
Mongol Sultans of the Iraks and Ehorasan, also by Defremery, 
in 1851, all in the same journal. M. Defremery also published 
the Travels in Persia and Central Asia in the NouveUea Anncdes 
des Voyages for 1848, and the Travels in Asia Minor in the same 
periodical for 1850-51. In it also M. Cherbonneau, Professor of 
Arabic at Constantina, put forth, in 1852, a slightly abridged 
translation of the commencement of the work, as far as the 
traveller's departure for Syria, omitting the preface.' 

I All these bibliographical particulars are derived firom the pre&oe of 
the French translators. 



• •: ••: ••• 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 431 

Finally, the whole work was most careftilly edited in the 
orifi^inal, with a translation into French by M. De&emery and 
Dr. Sangninetti, at the expense of the Asiatic Society of Paiis, 
in four volumes, with an admirable index of names and peculiar 
expressions attached (1858-69). From their French the present 
version of Ibn Batuta's voyage to China has been made. The plan 
of the Asiatic Society appears to have precluded a commentary ; but 
a few explanatory notes have been inserted by the editors among 
the various readings at the end of each volume, and valuable 
introductions have been prefixed to the first three. In the fourth 
volume, which contains the whole of the traveller's history from 
the time of his leaving Dehli on the ill-fated embassy to China, 
this valuable aid is no longer given ; for what reason I know not. 

There can be no question, I think, as to the interest of this 
remarkable book. As to the character of the traveller, and the 
reliance to be placed on him, opinions have been somewhat 
various. In his own day and country he was looked upon, it 
would seem, as a bit of a Munchausen,^ but so have others who 
little deserved it. 

His French editors, Defr^mery and Sanguinetti, are disposed 
to maintain his truthfulness, and quote with approbation M. Dozy 
of Leyden, who calls him " this honest traveller." Dulaurier also 
looks on him very favourably. Heinaud again, and Baron 
M'Guckin de Slane, accuse him either of natural credulity, or 
of an inclination to deal in marvellous stories, especially in some 
of his chapters on the far East ; whilst Klaproth quite reviles 
him for the stupidity which induces him to cram his readers 
with rigmaroles about Mahomedan saints and spiritualists, when 

1 See in the App. to vol. iii, at p. 466, an extract fix>m the Prolegomena 
of Ibn Khald^n. It mentions how onr traveller, having returned from 
his long wandering^, was admitted to the court of his native sovereign. 
The wonderful stories which he related of the wealth and boundless libe- 
rality of Mahomed Tughlak excited incredulity. " Those who heard him 
relate these stories and others of the same kind at the courts whispered 
to one another that they were a parcel of lies and that the narrator waa 
an Impostor." Ibn Khaldan having expressed this view to the Wazir, 
received a caution against over-incredulity, backed by an apopthegm, 
which seems to have led him on reflection to think that he had been 
wrong in disbelieving the traveller. 



432 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

details of the places be had seen would have been of extreme 
interest and value. 

Though Klaproth was probably acquainted onlj with the 
abridgment translated by Lee, and thus had not the means of 
doing justice to the narrative, I must say there is some foun- 
dation for his reproaches, for, especially when dealing with the 
Saracenic countries, in which Islam had been long established, 
his details of the religious establishments and theologians occupy 
a space which renders this part of the narrative very dull to the 
uninitiated. It seems to me that the Mahomedan man of the 
world, soldier, jurist, and theologian, is, at least in regard to a 
large class of subjects, not always either so trustworthy, or so 
perspicacious as the narrow-minded Christian friars who were 
his contemporaries, whilst he cannot be compared with the 
Venetian merchant, who shines among all the travellers of the 
middle age like the moon among the lesser b'ghts of heaven. 
There seems to be something in the Mahomedan mind that 
indisposes it for appreciating and relating accurately what is 
witnessed in nature and geography. 

Of the confused state of his geographical ideas, no instance 
can be stronger than that afforded by his ti*avels in China, where 
he jumbles into one great river, rising near Peking, and entering 
the sea at Canton, after passing Kingsze and Zayton, the whole 
system of Chinese hydrography, partly bound together by the 
Oreat Canal and its branches.^ These do indeed extend from 
north to south, but in travelling on their waters he must, once 
at least, and probably twice, have been interrupted by portages 
over mountain ranges of great height. So, also, at an earlier 
period in his wanderings, he asserts that the river at Aleppo (the 
Koik, a tributary of Euphrates) is the same as that called Al' Asi, 
or Orontes, which passes by Hamath.^ In another passage he 

^ See i, 79, and hereafter in his travels through China. 

' See i, 152, and French editors' note, p. 432. It is a remarkable feature 
in the Nile, aooording to Ibn Batata, that it flows from south to north, 
contrary to all other rivers. This fact seems to have impressed the imagi- 
nation of the ancients also, as one of the Nile's mysteries, and Cosmas 
says it flows slowly, becaose, as it were, up hiU, the earth according to 
his notion rising towards the north. 



:\' 



• » fc ^4^ . «. 

» 4 k \ 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 433 

confonnds the celebrated trading places of Siraf and Kais, or 
Kish :^ and in his description of the Pyramids, he distinctly as- 
cribes to them a conical form, i.e., with a circular base.^ Various 
other instances of the looseness of his observation, or statements, 
will occur in that part of his travels which we are about to set 
forth in full. Sometimes, again, he seems to have forgotten the 
real name of a place, and to have substituted another, as it would 
seem, at random, or perhaps one having some resemblance in 
sound. Thus, in describing the disastrous campaign of the 
Sultan's troops in the Himalya, he speaks of them as, in the 
commencement, capturing Warangal^ a city high up in the 
range. Now, Warangal was in the Dekkan, the capital of Telin- 
gana, and it seems highly improbable that there could have been 
a city of the name in the Himalya. (See iii, 326). One sus- 
pects something of the same kind when he identifies Kataka 
(Guttack ?) with the Mahratta country (tZ>., p. 182), but in this 
I may easily be wrong ; even if I be right, however, the cases 
of this kind are few. 

Of his exaggeration we have a measurable sample in his 
account of the great Kutb Mindr at Dehli, which we have still 
before our eyes, to compare with his description : — " The site of 
this mosque [the JamaMasjid, or Cathedral Mosque of old Dehli] 
was formerly a Budhlidnah, or idol-temple, but a^r the con- 
quest of the city it was converted into a mosque. In the northern 
court of the mosque stands the minaret, which is without parallel 
in all the countries of Islam. It is built of red stone, in this 
differing from the material of the rest of the mosque, which is 
white ; moreover, the stone of the minaret is wrought in sculp- 
ture. It is of surpassing height; the pinnacle is of milk-white 
marble, and the globes which decorate it of pure gold. The 

' See ii, 244, and French editors' note, p. 456. 

' See i, p. 81. He gives a curious story about the opening of the great 
pyramid by the Khalif M4mdn, and how he pierced its solid base with 
Hannibal's chemistry, first lighting a g^eat fire in contact with it, then 
tluidng it with vinegar, and battering it with shot from a mangonel. 
Though Ibn Batnta passes the site of Thebes three times, and indeed 
names Luxor as one of his halting places, " where is to be seen the tomb 
of the pious hermit Abu'l Hi^tg Alaksori," he takes no notice of the vast 
remains there or elsewhere on the Nile. 

28 



434 iBN batuta's travels in bknqal and china. 

aperture of the Btaircctse is so wide that elephants can ascend, and a 
person on wliom I cmdd rely, told me that whe7i the minaret was 
a-huilding^ he saw an elephant ascend to the very top with a load of 
stones.** Also, in speaking of the incomplete minaret, which was 
commenced by one of the Saltans (I forget which) in rivalry of 
the Kntb Minar, he tells us that its staircase was so great that 
three elephants could mount abreast, and though only one-third 
of the altitude was completed, that fraction was already as high 
as the adjoining minaret (the Kutb) ! These are gross exag- 
gerations, though I am not provided with the actual dimensions 
of either staircase to compare with them.^ This test I can offer, 
however, in reference to a third remarkable object in the court 
of the same mosque, the celebrated Iron Ltithy or column : *'In the 
centre of the mosque there is to be seen an enormous pillar, 
made of some unknown metal. One of the learned Hindus told 



' The total diameter of the Kutb Minar at the bage is 47 feet 3 inches, 
and at the top about 9 feet. The doorway is a small one, not larger at 
moat I think than an ordinary London street-door, though I cannot give 
its dimensions. The uncompleted minaret is certainly not half the height 
of the Kutb ; in diameter it ia perhaps twice aa great. Ibn Batata was 
no doubt trying to communicate from memory the impreaaion of vaatness 
which theae building^ had made upon hia mind, and if he had not been 
80 Bpecific there would have been little fault to find. 

In jaatice to him we may quote a much more exaggerated contempo- 
rary notice of the Kutb in the intereating book called Masdlak Al Ahsdr. 
The author mentions on the authority of Shaik Burhan-uddin Burai 
that the minaret of Dehli waa 600 cubita high ! {Notices et ExtraUs, xiii, 
p. 180). 

On -the other hand, the account given by Abulfeda ia apparently quite 
accurate. " Attached to the mosque (of Dehli) ia a tower which haa no 
equal in the whole world. It is built of red stone with about 360 steps. 
It ia not aquare bat has a great number of angles, is very massive at 
the base, and very lofty, equalling in height the Pharos of Alexandria" 
(Oildemeister, p. 190). I may add that Ibn Batuta waa certainly mis- 
informed aa to the date and builder of the Kutb. He aacribea it to Sultan 
Muizzuddin (otherwise called Kaikobad), grandaon of Balban (a.d. 1280- 
JL290). But the real date ia nearly a century older. It was begun by 
Eutb-uddin Eibek when governing for Shahab-uddin of Ghazni (other- 
wise Mahomed Bin Sam, a.d. 1193-1206), and completed by Altamsh 
(1207-1236). Ibn Batuta aacribea the rival atructure to Eutb-uddin 
Ehiltji (Mubarik Shah, 1316-1320), and in thia alao I think he ia wrong, 
though I cannot correct him. 



INTBODUCTORY NOTICE. 435 

me that it was entitled haft-juahj or "the seven metals," from 
being composed of an amalgam of so many. A portion of the 
shall has been polished, about a finger's length, and the sheen 
of it is quite dazzling. Iron tools can make no impression on 
this pillar. It m thwii^ cuhiU in lengthy and when I twisted my 
turban-cloth round the shaft ^ it took a letigth of eight cuMts to com^ 
pass itJ'* The real height of the pillar above ground is twenty- 
two feet, and its greatest diameter a little more than sixteen 
inches.^ 

Ab positive fiction we must set down the traveller's account 
of the historical events which he asserts to have taken place in 
China during his visit to that country, as will be more precisely 
pointed out in the notes which accompany his narrative. I shaU 
there indicate reaspns for doubting whether he ever reached 
Peking at all.^ And his account of the country of Tawalisi, 
which he visited on his way to China, with all allowance for our 
ignorance of its exact position, seems open to the charge of con- 
siderable misrepresentation, to say the least of it. He never 
seems to have acquired more than avery imperfect knowledge even 
of Persian, which was then, still more than now, the Ungua franca 
of Asiatic travel, much less of any more local vernacular ; nor 
does he seem to have been aware that the Persian phrases which 

^ The pillar looks like iron, but I do not know if its real composition 
has been detennined. It was considered by James Prinsep to date firom 
the third or fourth century. I should observe that the shaft has been 
recently ascertained to descend <U lectst twenty-six feet into the earth, 
and probably several feet more, as with that depth excavated the pillar 
did not become loose. But there is no reason to believe that it stood 
higher above ground in Ibn Batuta's time than now, and I gather from 
the statement that the diameter below ground does not increase. I am 
indebted for these last facts, and for the dimensions given above, to my 
friend M.-Oeneral Cunningham's unpublished archsBological reports, and 
I trust he will excuse this slight use of them, as no other measurements 
were aooessible to me that could be depended upon. 

' When the traveller (iv, 244) tells us that the people of Cathay or 
Northern China used elephants as common beasts of burden in exactly 
the same way that they were used by the people of Mul- Jawa on the 
shores of the Gulf of Siam, he somewhat strengthens the suspicion that 
he never was in Northern China^ where I believe the elephant has never 
been other than a foreign importation for use in war or court pomps. 

28 « 



436 IBN BATdTA^S TRAVELS IN BEKQAL AND CHINA. 

he quotes did not belong to the vernacular of the countries 
which he is describing, a mistake of which we have seen analo- 
gous instances abeadj in Marignolli's account of Ceylon. Thus, 
in relating the circumstances of a suttee which he witnessed on 
his way from Dehli to the coast, after eight years' residence in 
Hindustan, he makes the victim address her conductors in Per' 
eian^ quoting the words in that language as actually used by her, 
these being no doubt the interpretation which was given him by 
a bystander.^ There are many like instances in the course of the 
work, as, when he tells us that an ingot of gold was called, in 
China, barkalah; that watchmen were there called haswdndn, 
and so forth, all the terms used being Persian. Grenerally, 
perhaps, his explanations of foreign terms are inaccurate; he 
has got hold of some idea connected with th^ wor^, but not the 
real one. Thus, in explaining the name of HdJ^Tarkhdn (Astracan) 
he tells us that the word Tarkhdn, among the Turks, signified a 
place exempt from all taxes, whereas it was the title of certain 
privileged persons, who, among other peculiar rights, enjoyed 
exemption from taxes.' Again, he tells us that the palace of the 
Khans at Sarai was called AUtln-Thdsh, or " Qolden Head /' but 
it is Bdsh, not Thdsh, that signifies head in Turkish, and the 
meaning of the name he gives is Golden Stone? 

There are some remarkable chronological difficulties in his 
narrative, but for most of these I must refer to the French editors, 

* The story is related on his first entrance into Hindustan d^opos of 
another suttee which then occurred. Bat he states the circumstance to 
have happened at a later date when he was at the town of Amjeri, and I 
suppose this to have been the town of Amjhera near Dhar, which he 
probably passed through on his way from Dhar to Dautalabad in 1342 
(iii. 137). 

' Tarhhan is supposed to be the title intended by the Turxanthus of 
the Byzantine Embassy of Valentine (see note near end of Ibn Batuta*s 
narrative^ itifra), 

9 See remark by Tr., ii, 448. Ibn Batuta tells us that it was the custom 
in India for a creditor of a courtier who would not pay his debts to 
watch at the palace g^te for his debtor, and there assail him with cries of 
"Daruhai Ut-Sultdn ! O enemy of the Sultan ! thou shalt not enter till 
thou hast paid." But it is probable that the exclamation really was that 
still so well known in India from any individual who considers himself 
iiijured, " Duhai Mahar^ ! Dukai Company Bahidur !" Justice ! Justice ! 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 437 

to whom I am so largely indebted. Others, more particularly re- 
lating to the Chinese expedition, will be noticed in detail fxiT- 
ther on. 

After all that has been said, however, there can be no doubt 
of the gennine nature and general veracity of Ibn Batuta's 
travels, as the many instances in which his notices throw light 
upon passages in other documents of this collection, and on 
Marco Polo's travels (see particularly M. Pauthier's notes), might 
suffice to show. Indeed, apart from cursory inaccuracies and 
occasional loose statements, the two passages abeady alluded to 
are the only two with regard to which I should be disposed 
positively to impugn his veracity. The very passages which have 
been cited with regard to the great edifices at Dehli are only 
exaggerated when he rashly ventures on positive statements of 
dimension ; in other respects they are the brief and happy sketches 
of an eye- witness. His accounts of the Maldive islands, and of the 
Negro countries of Sudan (of which latter his detail is one of the 
earliest that has come down to us) are full of interesting parti- 
culars, and appear to be accurate and unstrained. The majority 
of the names even, which he attaches to the dozen great clusters 
of the Maldives, can still be identified,^ and much, I believe, of 
his Central African narrative is an anticipation of knowledge but 
recently regained. The passage in which he describes at length 
his adventures near Koel in India, when accidently separated 
for many days from his company, is an excellent example of 
fresh and lively narrative. His full and curious statements and 
anecdotes regarding the showy virtues and very sohd vices of 
Sultan Mahomed Tnghlak are in entire agreement with what is 

> The names attributed by Ibn Batata to twelve of the Maldive 
dusters are (1) P&lipur, (2) Eannaltis, (3) Mahal, the Boyal Kesidence, 
(4) Tal&dfb, C^) Kariidu, (6) Taim, (7) Taladumati, (8) Haladnmati, 
(9) Baraida, (10) TTandalrftl, (11) Moltik, (12) Suwaid, which last he cor- 
rectly describes as being the most remote. The names corresponding to 
these as given in a map accompanying an article in the /. 12. Oeog. Soc. 
are, (1) Padyi>olo, (2) Colomandus ? (3) Mal6, the Sultan's Besidence, 

(4) Tillada, (6) Cardiva, (6) ? (7) Tilladamatis, (8) Milladumadue. 

(9) Palisdos, (10) ? (11) Molacqae, (12) Snadiva. M. Defr^meiyhad 

already made the comparison with those ^ven in Pyrard's voyage of 
1619. 



438 iBN batcta's travels in bengal and china. 

told by the historians of India, and add many new details. The 
French editors have shown, in a learned and elaborate tabular state- 
ment, how well oar traveller's account of the chief events of that 
monarch's reign (though told with no attention to chronological 
succession) agrees with those of Khondemir and Firishta. The 
whole of the second part of his narrative indeed seems to me 
superior in vivacity and interest to the first ; which, I suppose 
may be attributed partly to more vivid recollection, and partly 
perhaps to the preservation of his later notes. 

Ibn Batuta has drawn his own character in an accumulation of 
slight touches through the long history of his wanderings, but to 
do justice to the result in a few lines would require the hand 
of Chaucer, and something perhaps of his freedom of speech. 
Not wanting in acuteness nor in humane feeling, full of vital 
energy and enjoyment of life ; infinite in curiosity ; daring, rest- 
less, impulsive, sensual, inconsiderate, and extravagant ; super- 
stitious in his regard for the saints of his religion, and plying 
devout observances, especially when in difficulties ; doubtless an 
agreeable companion, for we always find him welcomed at first, 
but clinging, like one of the Ceylon leeches which he describes, 
when he found a full-blooded subject, and hence too apt to dis- 
gust his patrons and to turn to intrigues against them. Such 
are the impressions which one reader, at least, has gathered from 
the surface of his narrative, as rendered by MM. Defr^mery and 
Sangmnetti.^ 

^ In preparing this paper I have to regret not being able to look over 
Lee's abridgement, though I have had before me a few notes of a former 
reading of it. If I can trust my recollection, there are some circumstances 
in Lee which do not appear at all in the French translation of the com- 
plete work. This is curious. I may add that in the part translated by 
M. Dulaurier I have on one or two occasions ventured to foUow his 
version where it seemed to give a better sense, though diBclaiming any 
idea of judging between the two as to accuracy. 



INTEODUCTORY NOTICE. 439 



NOTE A. (See page 407.) 



ON THE VALUE OP THE INDIAN COINS MENTIONED 

BY IBN BATTTTA. 



Thoitoh I have not been able to obtain complete light bn this perplexed 
question, I will venture a few remarlcs which may facilitate its solution 
by thoee who have more knowledge and better aids available, and I am 
the more encouraged to do so because the venerable and sagacious 
Elphinstone, in his remarks on the subject, has certainly been led astray 
by a passage in the abridgment of our traveller translated by Lee. He 
observes (H. of India, ii, 208): "In Ibn Batuta's time a western dln&r 
was to an eastern as four to one, and an eastern dfn4r seems to have been 
one-tenth of a tankha, which, even supposing the tankha of that day to 
be equal to a rupee of Akber, would be only Z^d (Ibn Battita, p. 149)." 

But the fact deducible from what Ibn Batuta really says is, that what 
he calls the silver dinar of India U the tangah of other authors, cor- 
responding more or less to the coin which has been called rupee (R&p(ya) 
since the days of Sher Shah (1540-45), and that this nlver coin was equal 
to one-fourth of the gold dinir of the West {Maghrib, i.e. Western Bar- 
baiy) ; whilst it was one-tenth of the gold coin of India, to which alone 
he gives the name of Tangah. Thus he says : " The loii; is a sum of 100,000 
[Indian silver] din&rs, an amount equal to 10,000 Indian gold dfn&rs" (iii, 
106), with which we may compare the statement in the contemporary 
MasdHak-aUAhsdr that the Bed Lak was equal to 100,000 gold Tangah, and 
the WhiU Lak equal to 100,000 silver Tangah (Not, et Ext,, ziii, 211-12). 
We may also refer to his anecdote about Sultan Mahomed's sending 
40,000 dindre to Shaikh Burhanuddin of Saghaij at Samarkand, which 
appears also in the MoAolak-al-Ahtdr as a present of 40,000 Tangahe, But 
the identity of Ibn Batuta's Indian silver dfn4r and the silver Tangah 
will be seen to be beyond question when this note has been read through. 

The late Mr. Erskine, in his H. o/ India under Baher and Humayun, 
(i, 544), says that the Tangah under the KhUjis (the immediate prede- 
cessors of the Tughlaks on the throne of Debli) was a tola in weight (i.e. 
the weight of the present rupee), and probably equal in value to Akbar's 
rupee, or about two shillings. And this we should naturally suppose to 
be about the value of the Tangah or silver din&r of Mahomed Tughlak, 
but there are statements which curiously diverge from this in oontnuy 
directions. 

On the one hand, Firishtahas the following passage : " Nixamood-deen 
Ahmed Bukhshy,- surprised at the vast sums Stated by historians as 
having been lavished by this prince (M. Tnghlak), took the trouble to 



440 IBN BATUTA^S TRAVELS IK BENGAL AND CHINA. 

ascertain from aatbentic records that these Tankas were of the silyer 
currency of the day, in which was amalgamated a great deal of alloy, so 
that each Tanka only exchanged for sixteen copper pice/' making, says 
Briggs, the tanka worth only about fourpence instead of two shillings 
(BHggs't FirUhta, i, 410). 

I doubt however if this statement, or at least the accuracy of the 
Bakshi's researches, can be relied on, for the distinct and concurring testi- 
monies of Ibn Batuta and the Masdlak-al'Abidr not only lend no counten- 
ance to this depreciation, but seem on the other hand greatly to enhance 
the value of the Tangah beyond what we may call its normal value of 
two shillings. 

Thus Ibn Batdta tells us repeatedly that the gold Taagali (of 10 silver 
dinars or Tangahs) was equal to 2^ gold din&rs of Maghrib (see i, 293 ; 
u, 65, 66 ; iu, 107, 426 ; iv, 212). The Masdlak-al-Ahsdr says it was equal 
to three mitheaU (ordinary dinars P) . The former says again that the silver 
dinar of India was equivalent to eight dirhems, and that " this dirhem 
was absolutely equivalent to the dirhem of silver" (iv, 210). 

The MnadZak-aUAhsdr also tells us, on the authority of a certain Shaikh 
Mubarak who had been in India at the court of M. Tughlak, that the 
silver Tangah was equal to eight dirhems called hcuhtkdni, and that these 
were of the same weight as the dirhem of Egypt and Syria (o. c. xiii, 211) ; 
though in another passage the same work gives the value as six dirhems 
only (p. 194). 

The only estimate I can find of a Barbsjy dinar is Amari's report from 
actual weight and assay of the value of the dinhi called M^miM of the 
African dynasty Almohadi, cnirent at the end of the twelfth century. 
This amounts to fr, 16.36 or 12<. 11.42d. (JHplomi Arabi del B, Archiv, 
Fiorent, p. 398). We have seen that ten silver din&rs of India were equal 
to two and a half gold din&rs of Barbary, or, in other words, that four of 
the former were equal to one of the latter. Taking the valuation just 
given we should have the Indian silver dinlir or Tangah worth 3«. 2.855d. 
. . . (A). 

Then as regards the dirhem. The din&r of the Arabs was a peipetua- 
tion of the golden solidus of Constantino, which appears to have borne 
the name of denarius in the eastern provinces, and it preserved for many 
hundred years the weight and intrinsic value of the Roman coin, though 
in the fourteenth centuiy the din&r of Egypt and Syria had certainly 
fallen below this. The dirhem more vaguely represented the drachma, 
or rather the Boman (silver) denarius, to which the former name was ap- 
plied in the Greek provinces (see Ccutiglione, Monete Cufiehe, Ixi, eeqq.) 

The din&r was divided originally into 20 dirhems, though at certain 
times and places it came to be divided into only 12, 13, or 10. In Egypt, 
in Ibn Batuta's time, according to his own statement, it was divided into 
25 dirhems. His contemporary, Pegolotti, also says that 23 to 25 diremi 
went to the Bizant or dinar. In Syria in the following century we find 
Uzzano to state that the dinar was worth thirty dirhems ; and perhaps 
this may have been the case in Egypt at an earlier date. For Frescobaldi 
(1384) tells us that the daremo was of the value of a Venice grosso (of 



INRODUCTORY NOTICE. 441 

which there went twenty-four to the sequin), and also that the bizant 
was worth a dueato di zeccha (or sequin) and a quarter; hence there 
should have been thirty grossl or dirhems to the bizant (Amari in Joum. 
Aiiat., Jan. 1846, p. 241, and in Diplomi Arabi u.s. ; Ibn Bat,, i, 50 ; Delia 
Deeima, in, 68, iv, 118 ; Viag. in Terra Santa di L. Frescohaldi e d'altri, Fi- 
renze, 1862, p. 43). The estimates of the din4r also are various. Quatrem^re 
assumes the din^ in Irak at the beginning of the fourteenth century to 
be 15 francs, or 11<. lO^d, ; Defremery makes 100,000 dirhems of Egypt 
equal to 75,000 francs, which, at Ibn Batuta's rate of 25 to the dinar, 
would make the latter equal to 140. lOd., or at 20 dirhems (which is pro- 
bably the number assumed) lis, lO^d. Pegolotti says the bizant of Egypt 
(or dinar) was worth 1 J florin, but makes other statements from which we 
must deduce that it was 1^,* valuations which woald respectively make the 
din4r equal to lOs. 11.66d., and lis. 3.82d. Frescobaldi and his companion 
Sigoli both say that it was worth a sequin (or a florin) and a quarter, i. e,, 
111. 8.35d., or lis. 9.06d.* Uzzano says its value varied (in exchange ap- 
parently) from 1 florin to li, or even li ; giving respectively values of 
9«. 4.85d., 10«. 6.9d., and 12s. 6d. But he also tells us that its excess in 
weight over the florin was only li carat (or 7^), which would make its in- 
trinsic value only 9<. lid. MacGuckin de Slane says in a note on Ibn 
Batuta that the dinar of hia time might be valued at 12 or 13 francs, i.e., 
from 9s. 6d. to 10s. 3^d. ; and Amari that the din&r of Egypt at the be- 
ginning of the fourteenth century was equal to the latter sum (Quat. 
Ea»hideddin, p. xix ; Ibn Bat. i, 95 ; DeUa Decima, ui, 58, 77 ; iv, 110 seg. ; 
Viaggi in Terra Santa, pp. 43, 177; Jour, Asiat., March, 1843, p. 188; 
JHplonU Arabi, p. Ixiv). On the whole I do not well see how the din&r of 
Egypt and Syria in our author's time can be assumed at a lower value 
than 10s. 6d. 

Taking the dinar of Egypt and Syria at 10s. 6d., and 25 dirhems to the 
dinar (according to our author's own computation) we have the dirhem 
worth 5.04d., and the Indian dinar or Tangah, being worth eight dirhems, 
will be 3s. 4.32d. . . . (b). 

Or, if neglecting the whole question as to the value of the din&r and 
number of dirhems therein, we take Fresoobaldi's assertion that the 
dirhem was worth a Venetian groat as an accurate statement of its value, 
we shall have the dirhem equal to -g^ of a sequin or Os. 4.68d., and the 
Tanga worth 3s. 1.44d. . . . (c). 

But even this last and lowest of these results is perplexingly high, un- 
less we consider how very different the relation between silver and gold 
in India in the first half of the fourteenth century is likely to have been 
from what it is now in Europe ; observing also that all the values we have 
been assigning have been deduced from the value of gold coins estimated 



^ For he tells us (p. 77) that 1 oz. Florence weight was equal to 6 
bizants and 16f carats, the bizant being divided into 24 carats ; and in 
another place (p. 202) that 96 gold florins of Florence were equal to one 
Florence pound. The resulting equation will give the bizant almost 
exactly equal to 1 j florin. 



442 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

at the modem English mint price, which is to the vaJae of silver as fifteen 
and a fraction to one. 

The prevalent relation between gold and silver in Earope, for several 
centuries before the disoovezy of America took effect on the matter^ seems 
to have been abotit twelve to one ; and it is almost certain that in India 
at this time the ratio most have been considerably lower. Till recently I 
believe silver has always borne a higher relative value in India than in 
Europe, but besides this the vast quantities of gold that had been brought 
into circulation in the Dehli Empire since the beginning of the century, 
by the successive invasions of the Decoan and plunder of the accumulated 
treasures of its temples and cities, must have tended still more to depre- 
ciate gold, and it is very conceivable that the relative value at Dehli in 
1820-1350 should have been ten to one, or even less.' 

On the hypothesis of its being ten to one we should have to reduce 
the estimates of the din4r (a), (b), (c), by one third in order to get the 
real results in modem value. They would then become respectively 
2«. 1.9d., 2«. 2.9d., and 2b. 0.96d., and the Tangali or silver dinir thus 
becomes substantially identified with the modem rupee. 

The fact that the gold Tangah was coined to be worth ten silver ones 
may slightly favour the reality of the supposed ratio between gold and 
silver, as there seems to have been often a propensity to make the chief 
gold and chief silver coin of the same weight. I think that the modem 
gold mohur struck at the Company's Indian Mints is or was of the same 
weight as the rupee. See also (supra, p. 116) the statement in Wassaf 
that the balUh of gold was just ten times the halUh of silver. 

I do not know whether the existence of coins of Mahomed Tughlak in 
our Museums g^ves the means of confiiming or upsetting the preceding 
calculations. 

In making them the twenty franc piece has been taken at the value of 



1 For some account of the enormous plunder in gold, etc., brought from 
the south by Malik Eafur in 1310-11 see Brigga* Firishta, i, p. 373-4. See 
also supra, p. 219, for a sample of the spoil in gold appropriated by one of 
the minor Mahomedan buccaneering chiefs in the Peninsula. The trea- 
sures a<x3umulated by Ealesa-Dewar, the Ri^ah of Maabar, in the end of 
the thirteenth century, are stated in the Persian History of Wassaf at 
12,000 crores of gold, a crore being=10,000,000 ! (see Von Hammer's 
work quoted supra, p. 220). Note also that there was according to 
Firishta at this time none but gold coinage in the Oamatic, and this in- 
deed continued to be the prevalent currency there till the present cen- 
tury (Elphinstone, ii, 48). We may observe too that even when the 
emperor assigns to Ibn Batuta a large present estimated in silver dinars, 
it is paid in gold Tangahs (iii, 426). I may add a reference to what Polo 
tells us of the frontier provinces between Burma and China, that in one the 
value of gold was only ei^ht times that of silver, in another only six times, 
and in a third (that of the Zardandan or Gold-Teeth — supra, p. 273) only 
five times that of silver; "by this exchange," quoth he, "merchants 
naake great profit" (pt. i, ch. 46, 47, 48). Difficult of access as those pro- 
vinces were, such on exchange must in some degree have affected neigh- 
bouring conntries. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 443 

15«. I0.5d. English, and therefore the franc in gold at Os. 9.69d. (Eneyl, 
Brit,, article Money). The Florentine gold florin has been taken at 
fr. 11.8792, or 9s. 4.8516<2. English, and the Venetian sequin at/r. 11.82, 
or 9tt. 4284d. ( Cibrario, Pol. Eeonomia del Medio Bvo, iii, 228, 248). 



NOTE B. (See page 416.) 

ON THE PLACES VISITED BY IBN BATUTA BETWEEN 

CAMBAY AND MALABAB. 

I dissent entirely from Dr. Lee and others as to the identification of 
the places named by our traveller between Cambay and Hunawar. 

Kawe or Kdwa is by Lee taken for Gogo. But I have no doubt it is the 
place still bearing the same name, Gauvet in Arrowsmith's great map, 
Gon^^ay or Conwa of Bitter (vi, 645-6), on the left bank of the Mahi's 
estuaiy over-against Cambay. It is, or was in Forbes's time, (Oriental 
Memoirs, quoted by Bitter) the seat of a great company of naked 
Sanyasis. 

Kandahdr is evidently the corruption of some Indian name into a form 
familiar to Mahomedan ears. It occurs also as the name of a maritime city 
near the Gulf of Cambay in the early wars of the Mahomedans of Sind, and 
in the Ayin Akbari {Beinaud in J. As., s. iv, tom. v, 186). Starting from the 
point just identified, we should look for it on the ecut side of the Gxdf of 
Cambay, and there accordingly, in Arrowsmith's map, on a secondary estu- 
ary, that of the Dhandar or river of Baroda between the Mahi and the 
Nerbudda, we find Gundab. We shall also find it in old Lmschoten's map 
(Oandar), and the place is described by Edward Barbosa under the name 
of Chtindarim or Guandari, as a good enough city and sea-port, carrying on 
a brisk trade with Malabar, etc. Debarros also mentions it as Oendar, a port 
between Cambay and Baroch (see Barhosa and Debarros in Bam'iMio, i ; and 
also the Lisbon Barhosa, p. 277). The title, Jdlansi, given by Ibn Batuta 
to the King of Gandar, probably represents the surname of the B^'piit tribe 
of JhcUds, which acquired large fragments of the gpreat Hindu kingdom of 
Anhilwara on its fall in the beginning of the century, and whose name is 
still preserved in that of the district of Gigarat called Jhdldwdr (see 
Forbes' s Bds-MaXd, i, 285-6, and 292 seq.) The form heard by Ibn Batuta 
may have been Jhalabansi or — vansi. The tribe of Khwc^a Bohrah who 
paid their respects to the envoys here must have been the race or sect 
calling themselves Ismailiah, but well-known as traders and pedlars 
under the name of Bohrahs, all over the Bombay presidency. The head- 
quarter of the sect is at Burhanpur in the east of Khandesh, but they 
are chiefly found in Surat and the towns of Gujarat (see Bitter, vi, 667.) 

Bairam I take to be the small island of Pebim, near the mouth of the 
Gulf of Cambay. It is, perhaps, the Bai^riis of the Periplus. This island 
was the site of a fortress belonging to Mukheraji Gohil, B%ja of Gk>go and 
Perim, which was destroyed by the Mahomedans apparently in this very 



444 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

reign of M. Taghlak, and never afterwords restored (Forheg op. cit.) This 
quite agrees with the statements of Ibn Batata. 

Kuhah is then the still tolerably floorishing port of Gooo on the western 
side of the gulf, which has already been indicated as the Caga of Friar Jor- 
danus {tup,, p. 228). Lee identified Kukah with Ooa, whilst Gildemeister, 
more strangely though not without misgiving, and even Defr^mery, iden- 
tify the Kawe of oar author with that city. The traveller's repeated allu- 
sions to the tides point distinctly to the Gulf of Cambay as the position 
of all the places hitherto named ; the remarkable rise and fall of the tide 
there have been celebrated since the date of the Periphu, 

The Pagan king Dunktil or Dung61, of Kukah, was doubtless one of 
the " OohiU, Lords of Gogo and Ferum, and of tbe sea-washed province 
which derived from them its name of Qohilwdr" (Forhet, p. 158), and 
possibly the last syllable represents this very name Oohil, though I can- 
not explain the prefix. 

Sinddhur or Sandibur is a greater difficulty, though named by a variety 
of geogpraphers, Europeans as well as Arabs. Some needless difficulty has 
been created by Abulfeda*s confounding it more or less with Sinddn, 
which was quite a different place. For the latter lay certainly to the north 
of Bombay, somewhere near the Gulf of Cambay. Indeed, Bawlinson 
(quoted in Madraa Journal, xiv, 198) says it has been corrupted into the 
8t. John of modem maps, on the coast of Gigarat. I presume this must 
be the St, John's Point of Bennell between Daman and Mahim, which 
would suit the conditions of Sind4n well. 

The data which Abulfeda himself quotes from travellers show that 
Sandabur was three days south of Tana, and reached (as Ibn Batuta also 
tells us) immediately before Hunawar. Bashid also names it as the 
first city reached on the Malabar Coast. The Chintabor of the Catalan 
map, and the Cintdbor of the Portulano Mediceo agree with this fiurly. 

I do not know any European book since the Portuguese discoveries 
which speaks of Sandabur, but the name appears in Linschoten's map in 
the end of the sixteenth century as Cintapor on the coast of the £onkan 
below Dabul. Possibly this was introduced from an older map without 
personal knowledge. It disagrees with nearly all the other data. 

Ibn Batuta himself speaks of it as the Island of Sandabur, containing 
thirty-six villages, as being one of the ports from which ships traded to 
Aden, and as being about one day's voyage from Hunawar. The last 
particular shows that it could not be far frt>m Goa, as Gildemeister has 
recognised, and I am satisfied that it was substantially identical with 
the port of Goa. This notion is supported (1) by its being called by 
Ibn Batuta, not merely an island, but an island surrounded by an estuary 
in which the water was salt at the flood tide but fresh at the ebb, a 
description applying only to a Delta island like Goa ; (2) by his mention of 
its thirty -six villages, for Debarros says that the island of Goa was called 
by a native name signifying "Thirty Villages"; and (3) by the way in which 
Sandabur is named in the Turkish book of navigation called the Mohith, 
translated by V. Hammer in the Bengal Journal, Here there is a section 
headed " 24th Voyage ; from Kuwai Sindabur to Aden." But the original 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 445 

chaxacters given in a note read Koah (i.e. Gt>a) Sindabur, which seems to 
indicate that Sindabor is to be looked for either in Goa Island, or on one of 
the other Delta islands of its eetnaiy. The sailing directions oonunence : 
" If yon start firom Goa Sindabnr at the<«nd of the season take care not 
to &J1 on Cape Fal/' etc. If we ooold identify this Bia-uUFdl we might 
make sore of Sandabnr. 

The name, whether properly Snndapur or Ch&ndapur, (which last the 
Catalan and Medicean maps suggest) I cannot trace. D'Anville iden- 
tifies Sandabnr with Sonda, which is the name of a district immediately 
sonth of 6k)a territory. But Sunda city lies inland, and he probably 
meant as the port Sedasheogarh, where we are now trying to reestablish a 
harbour. (ITAnviUe, AnHq, de VInde, pp. 109-111 ; Elliot, Ind. to Hist, of 
JfoA. India, p. 43 ; Javherfs Edrisi, i, 179 ; Qildemeister (who also refers to 
the following), pp. 46, 184, 188 ; Joum. As. 8oe, Bengal, v, p. 464). 

The only objection to these identifications appears to be the statement 
of oar author that he was only three days in sailing from Kukah to 
Sandabnr, which seems rather short allowance to give the vessels of those 
days to pass through the six degrees of latitude between €k>go and Goa. 
After all however it is only an average of five knots. 



NOTE C. (See page 417.) 

BEMABES ON SUNDRY PASSAGES IN THE POUETH VOLUME 
OP LASSEN'S INDI8CHE ALTERTHUM8KUNDE. 

The errors noticed here are those that I find obvious in those pages 
of the volume that I have had occasion to consult. None of them are 
noticed in the copious Errata at pp. 982 and (App.) 85. 

BBMABKB. 

a. P. 888. " 3Ia*dber, whioh name a. The most cursory reading of Marco 
(with Marco Polo) indicates the Polo shows that, whatever Maabar pro- 
southernmost part of the Mala- perly means, it cannot mean this with 
bar coast." The same is said that author, including as it does with 
before at p. 166. him the tomb of St. Thomas near 

Madras. But see eupra, pp. 80 and 219. 
If Maabar ever was understood to in- 
elude a small part of the S.W. coast, as 
perhaps the expressions of Bashid and 
Jordanus (p. 41) imply, this would 
seem to be merely because the name 
expressed a country, i.e., a superficies, 
and not a coast, i.e., a line. The name 
of Portugal would be most erroneously 
defined as " indicating the south coast 
of the Spanish peninsula," though Por- 
tugal does include a part of that coast. 
I find that the Arabs gave a name 



446 IBM BATUTA^S TRAVELS IK BENGAL AND CHINA. 

aaalogooB to that of Ma*har (or the 

Passa^) to the Barbuy coast from 

TaniB westward, which was called Bar- 

. uUAdufdh, Terra Transitfts, because 

thence they used to pass into Spain 

(Amari in Joum, Atiat., Jan. 1846^ p. 

228). And it is some corroboration of 

the idea that the name Ma*bar waa 

given to the coast near Bamnad as the 

place of passage to Ceylon, that a town 

just opposite on the Ceylonese coast 

was called Mantotte, because it was the 

Mahatotia, the " Great Fezry" or point 

of anival or departure of the Malabars 

resorting to the island (Tewnent, i, 564). 

h. P. 889. " From KAUkodu or h. Nothing is said by Ibn Batuta of 

Kalikut, the capital of the Za- meeting these ships on his Yoyage to 

morin, he (Ibn Batuta) yisited the Maldives. He describes them at 

the Maldives.... On this voyage Calicut, where they were in port. He 

he met the ships on their voyage speaks of the crew as consisting of one 

from Zaihin... On. their decks <^oiMand men. 

were wooden huts for the crew, 

which consisted of Jive and 

twenty men." 

e. " The captains were Amira, e. See fujora, p. 417. 
i.e., Arabs." 

d, ** This kind of ship was only d. These ships are distinctly stated to 
built in Zaitun" have been built in Zaitun, and in Sin^ 

kalan. 

e, ** From the Malabar coast Ibn e. On the contrary, he sailed fntm the 
Batuta sailed to Ceylon." Maldivee, * 

f, '* The next land that he men- /. I can iind no ground for this state- 
tions is Bengal. Our traveller ment in the narrative, except that Iba 
visited this country (about 1846) Batuta got a passage somehow from 
and found that between it and the Maldives to Beng^ and afterwards 
the southernmost part of the in a junk which was going from Bengal 
Dekkan a most actwe trafic kad to Java (Sumatra). At the latter place 
aprung up, and aUo with CMna" the sultan provided a vessel to carry 

him on to China.. 

g. Pp. 889-890. " From this (Ben- g. From this we should gather (1) that 

gal) he directed his travels to Ibn Batuta calls Java by that name, 

Java, as the name of that island and (2) calls Sumatra Jaonah, whilst 

is here given according to the (8) Lee introduces a name, MuUJava, 

more modem pronunciation ; the unknown to the correct narrative, as 

island of Sumatra he caUs Jao- that of the port of Sumatra. 

nah, which, we should rather The fiict is that Defr<£mery (whom 

have expected to be Jdvoneih, as Lassen cites) and Lee are in perfect 

it is known to be called by Marco accordance here. Sumatra Island is 

Polo Java Minor.** (In a note) : called Java ; some other country, which 



INTBODUCTOEY NOTICE. 447 

"The port where Ibn Batata both those translators take for Java 
landed is called in the correct Proper, is called MuUJava, and Jaonah 

reading Sumaihrah in Lee's is found (ibaolutely nowhere except in 

tranal&tion the name is g^ven in- Lassen's page. 
correctly as MuUJdva" 

h, P. 890. " Passing hence (from h. There is not one wor d in the narra- 
Somatra) onr traveller visited tive about any such visit, or anything 
tome of the Moluccas ; this is ren- that can be so interpreted. As for the 
dered certain by the fact that accuracy of his description of the spice 
the anther of these travels g^ves plants, look at it ! 
a pretty aecorate description of 
the spice plants." 

i. lb, ** On his farther travels i. The time in the narrative amounts 
Ibn Batata after seven days ar- to seventy-one days from Mol-Java, the 
rived at the kingdom of Tua- last point of departure, to Tawalisi. 
2ifdb. . . There is nothing about seven days, any 

more than there is about the visit to 
the Spice Islands. 
j. Ih, . ,** By which name only j. It is easy to settle difficult questions 
Tonkin can be meant. The in- with a " can only/' but there is nothing 
habitants of this kingdom, on to make it clear that Tonkin is meant, 
account of their vicinity, had and strong reasons arise against that 
many relations, both hostile and view. And absolutely nothing is said in 
p^cefuly with the Chinese." the narrative about vicinity to the 

Chinese. It is only said that the king 

had fr^uent naval wars with the 

Chinese, a fact which rather argues 

an insular position. 

]b. Ih, " In the Middle Kingdom, Ic, Sinkilan is indeed Canton, but it is 

next to Zaitun the most import- by sounder reasons than this that it is 

ant place of trade was the Port proved to be so. One does not see why 

of Sin^ssin or 5m-A;aZan ; this foreigners should call Canton by the 

name mnst indicate Canton, name of its river, if Tshing-Kuang 60 

which city stands on the river the name ; neither is there any great 

Tsihing-Kuang, the form of which resemblance in the words. But we 

is tolerably echoed in the second have seen that Sin-kaXdn is merely the 

reading of the name." Persian translation of Mahd-chin, and 

has nothing to do with Chinese words. 
Moreover Sin-kalan is not an alter- 
native reading {Lesart) of Sin-ossin 
{Sin-uUSin), but an alternative name. 
It may be said that these errors are of trifling moment, and belong to 
a mere appendage of the subject of the book. But noblesse oblige ; a work 
of SQch reputation as the Indian Archaeologia is referred to with almost as 
much confidence as the original authorities, and instances of negligence 
so thickly sown are a sort of breach of trust. Those already quoted are, all 
but one, within two pages. Going farther we find others as remarkable : 
I, P. 896. The name of one of the I, The real name in Cosmas (as found 
pepper ports on the coast of in Montfaucon) is however not Panda- 



448 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

Malabar is quoted firom Cosmas paHana bat Pudapatana (novSM-dtrora), 
Indioo-pleustes (with a reference which is much more likely to be " New- 
to J/on^aucon, p. 337) as Panda- city," from the Tamul Pudu, "Kew/' 
pattana, a form which is made as in PudU'Cheri, commonly called 
the basis of an etymology (as Pondicheny. The port existed by the 
from the Pemdiya kings). same name for a thousand years after 

Cosmas; see List of Malabar Ports, 
infra. 
m. P. 911. Lassen quotes the m. The name at p. 283 of the Bonn edi- 
name applied to the Chinese by tion is not Tengeut, but Taugagt (Ta»- 
Theophylactus Simocatta (see yaor). I have no longer access to the 
the Essay at the beginning of book, and I cannot say whether it is 
this volume) as Teng<utt citing so differently written at p. 288. This 
the Bonn edition, p. 288. change again (if it is such) favours an 

identification. The Identification may 
probably be right, but would stand 
better on a sound bottom. 

In the CorpuB Bywant. Histor, the 
word is written Tavy&r, though the 
Latin version of the same has Taugast, 
n. In the appended tract on the n. (1) Sultan Mahomed's name was not 
Chinese and Arab knowledge of Togrul but Tughldk, Neither (2) was he 
India, we have at p. 31 a state- in any sense oi Afghan lineage; nor (3) 
ment that Ibn Batuta acquired did he belong to the dyna&ty ofLodi, 
the high fiivour of the then which came a century after his time, 
reigning Emperor of India, Mu- with the Deluge between in the shape 
hammed Toghrul, of the Jfgha/n of Timur's invasion, 
dynasty of Lodi, 
0. P. 84. " I will not omit to re- o. There are six errors in these few lines, 
maik that Wilhehn von Bubruek, (I) The mission of Bubruquis/olZoioed 
Jean du Plan Carpin, and Bene- and did not precede, as is distinctly im- 
dietus Poloniua establish the plied here, that of John of Piano Car- 
&ct that also, during the wide pini. The former took place in 1253. 
sway of the Mongol Emperor (2) Bubruquis was not sent by the 
Jingis Khan and his successors, Roman Court, but by St. Lewis. (3) 
a commercial interchange ex- Piano Carpioi and Bennet the Pole did 
isted between several of their not visit Kublai Khan, but Kuyuk 
provinces and India. The first JET^an, and their travels took place in 
of these pious envoys of the Bo- 1245-47, not after 1259 as is here im- 
man court visited the Emperor plied. (4) All the three monks (and 
Mangu Khan, who in 1248 was all other Franciscans), were Fratree 
recognized as Supreme Khan of Minores, and not Bennet only as is here 
the whole empire ; the second implied. (5) Bennet did not join Plane 
visited Kublai Khan, who from Carpini on a journey to Borne, but was 
1259 to 1296 wielded with vigor- picked up at Breslaw as an inteipreter 
ous hand the sceptre of his fore- by the latter when on his way from 
fathers; the third belonged to the Pope at Lyons to the Khan at 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICB. 449 

that branch of the (Frandscaa) Karakonun. (6) In whatever manner 
order which is termed Fr<ttre$ the three traveUers may " establish 
Jiinaret or Mindem Bruder; he the foot" in question, it is not by say- 
was the comrade of the second* ing anything on the subject in their 
and joined him in Poland on a narratives. As fiir as I can discover 
journey to Borne undertaken in not one of the three contains a single 
1245. He reached in his com- word directly or indirectly as to com- 
pany the court of the founder of merdal intercourse between the Mon- 
the Mongol empire at foraJbo- gol provinces and India, 
mm." 

p. Turning back ; at p. 402. In p. Phcmw Fruettfera ia, I presume, the 
■peaking of the practice of writ- same as PhoBnim Daetyl\fera, the date 
ing on the palm-leaves with a tree. If it he called dwarf-palm in Ger- 
•tyle, Lassen notes, " The leaves many (which I doubt) it is very badly 
of the Zwergpdlme (i.e. dwarf- named ; but in any case it would puc- 
palm) or Phctnix Fruet^fera are zle any Dwarf out of Lilliput to write 
especially used for that pur- upon its leaves. The leaf most com- 
pose." monly used for the purpose is that of 

the Palmyra (Boroinu FlaheiUiformiB), 
and, in Ceylon and the peninsula ad- 
joining, that of the Talipat (Corypha 
UmbraeuUfwa), a gigantic palm. 
q, P. 611. In his description of the Chandi 8«wu or '' Thousand Temples" 
at Brambaaan in Java, he adopts without question Mr. Crawfbrd's view 
(formed fifty years ago when little was known about Buddhism), that 
these essentially Buddhist edifices have been each crowned with a lin- 
gam. Even if the temples were not Buddhist, who ever saw a lingam on 
the top of a temple ? But in fiust the objects in question are no more 
KwgMna than the cupolas over St. Paul's facade are dagohaa. Indeed in 
the latter case the resemblance is much more striking. 

r. P. 546. Here, in dealing with the Malay history as derived partly 
firom the native chronicles dted by Marsden, and partly from the early 
Portuguese writers, Lassen meets with the name of a chief given by the 
latter as Xagrtem Dofrwi. This hero he supposes to be the son of a certain 
Iskandar or Sikandar l^hah mentioned in the Malay legends, and devises 
for his odd name a Sanscrit original " (^^kanadhara, d. h. Beaitzer Kraf- 
tiger Besitzungen ;" accordingly he enters this possessor of strong pos- 
sessions as an ascertained sovereign in the dynastic list under the name 
of (^ikanadhara. Yet this Xaqwim Dana (Xaqttemdar Xa) is only a cor- 
rupt Portuguese transcript of the name of Sikandar Shah himself, (see 
Crawfwrd'$ Diet. Jnd. I$land$, p. 242). King (^Akanadhara is therefore 
as purely imaginary as the Pandyan city ascribed to Cosmas or the 
Island of Jaonah for which Ibn Batuta is wrongly made responsible. 



29 



450 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 



NOTE p. (See Page 418). 

THE MEDIEVAL POETS OP MALABAB. 



It Boema worth while to introduoe here a review of the Ports of Kala- 
bar as they are described to have existed from the thirteenth to the 
sixteenth oentory. Many of these have now altogether disappeared, not 
only from commercial lists but firom our maps, so that their very sites 
are sometimes difficult to identi^. Nor are the boolai (sach as P. BnchaU 
nan's Journey and others), which might serve to elucidate many points, 
accessible where this is written. But still this attempt to illustrate a 
prominent sulgect in the Indian geogn^hy of those centuries will I trust 
have some interest. 

We shall take the Goa Biver as our starting point, though Malabar 
strictly speaking was held to commence at Cape Delly. Had we taken 
the whole western coast from Oh^arat downwards the list would have 
been enlarged by at least a half. 

The authorities recurring most frequently will be indicated thus : — 
B stands for Barbosa (beginning of the sixteenth century) in Bamusio ; 
BL for the Insbon edition of Barbosa ; dbb ftnr Debarros (to whom I have 
access only in an Italian version of the two first Decades, Venice, 1561, 
and in Bamusio's extracts); ib for Ibn Batnta; s for the anonymous 
Bommario del Eegni in Bamusio. 

Sandabur, Chintabor, etc., see note B, 9upra» 

Bathecala, a flourishing city on a river, a mile from the sea {Var- 
thema); Bbitkitl, in the now again well known bay of Sedasheogarh. I 
do not find it mentioned by any other of the early travellers, but in the 
seventeenth century it was the seat of a British fskotory under the name 
of Carwar, the name (Oarwar Head) still applied to the southern point of 
the bay. 

Anjediva (Varth.); Akchxdiya, an island a little south of Carwar 
Head, which was a favourite anchorage of the early Portuguese, the 
island affording shelter and good water. 

Cintacola (b), C^tacora (bl), Centacola (Varthema), Ancola ? (deb) ; 
Ankolah ? a fortress on a rock over the river Aliga, belonging to the 
Sahaio of Goa (b), the residence of many Moorish merchants (Varth.). 

Mergeo Biver (b), Mergeu (bl and dbb), Mirgeo (s). A great export of 
rice ; the river north of Eumtah, on the estuaxy of which is still a place 
called Mibjatj, the Meeijee or Meerzah of BennelL Of late years I be- 
lieve the trade has revived at Eumtah, chiefly in the export of Dhanvar 
cotton. 

Honor (b), Onor (dbb and Cesar Pederici), Hin&war (ib), Hannaur 
(Ahufeda), Manor and Hunawur of Abdurrazzak, probably Nandor of the 
Catalan Map, Hunawab or Onobb (properly Buw&r ?). A fine place with 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 451 

pleasant gazdena and a Mahomedan population (Abul. and is) ; a great 
export of rice and mach freqnented by shipping (b), but long a nest of 
pirates. 

Battecala (b), Baticala (bl and deb), Batigala of Fr. Jordanus, Bat. 
KUL. A great place with many merchants, where ships of Hormuz and 
Aden came to load sugar and rice, but destroyed by the rise of Gk)a. (An 
English Factory in the 17th century). 

Mayandur, on a small river (b), Bendor (dbb); perhaps the port of 
Bedkub, which itself lies inland. • 

Bracalor (bl), Brazzalor (b, and A. Coradlx), Bracelor (dbb), Ba^or (s), 
Abusaror (eb), Basardr (AbaZ/.); Babcxlob. A small city on a gulf, 
abounding in oooo-trees (ib). (A Dutch Factory in the 17th century). 

Bacanor (bl, dbb, s), Bracanor (b), Fakantir, a large place on an 
estuary, with much sugar cane, under a pagan prince called Basadewa 
(ib), FagniSr (Baahid), Jaa-fiiknur (Firishta), probably the Magan^ of 
Ahdurrazsak, And the Paoamuria of N. Conti ; Baccanob. There was a 
great export of rice in ships of Hormux, Aden, Sohar and Malabar i^m 
both Baroelor and Baocanor (b). 
Caicara and Camate (dxb), Camati (P. VineenMo), 
Mangalor (b, dbb, b, Ahdurrauak), Mazgardr (ib and Ahul.), Manganor 
of the Catalan Map, Manoaloiu. Probably Mangaruth, one of the pepper- 
ports of Coemas, but the Kandagara of Ptolemy and the Periplus must 
hare been much fhrther north. (It is carious that Ptolemy has also a 
Manganor, but it is an inland city). On a great estuary called Al-Dunb, 
the greatest on the coast ; hither came most of the merchants from Yemen 
and Fars ; pepper and ginger abundant ; under a king called Bamadewa 
(ib). a great place on a great river; here the pepper begins ; the river 
bordered with coco groves; a great population of Moors and Gentiles; 
many handsome mosques and temples (b). Fifty or sixty ships used to 
load rice here (Varihema.) Fallen off sixty years later, when C. Federid 
calls it a little place of small trade, but still exporting a little rice. 

Maiceram (s), Mangeiron (dbb), Mangesairam (Limehoten), Manjxsh- 
WABAX. Nancaseram of Bennell ? 

Combala (b, dbb), Cumbola (bl), Cambulla (s), Coloal of RenneU 9 Kuv- 
BLAH. Exported rice, especially to the Maldives. 
Cangerecora^ on a river of the same name (dbb), Crandbaoibi ? 
Cote Coulam (s), Cota Coulam (dbb), Ck>te Colam (bl). 
Nilexoram (s), Nilichilam (dbb), Lignioeron (P. Vincenso), probably 
Barbosa's " port on the Miraporam Biver," which he describes as the next 
place to Cote Coulam, " a seaport of Moors and Qentiles, and a great 
place of navigation." Though the name has been excluded by the de- 
fects and Clarices of our modem maps, this is the Nilxsbwxbak, Nbli- 
BUBAK, or NxLLisxxB of Beiinell and others, which has been identified by 
Bennell with the Nelcynda of the ancients. There can be little doubt 
that the river on which it stands was that on which was situated the 
kingdom of Ely of Marco Polo, Hili of Bashid and Ibn Batata, EUy of the 
Carta Caialana (which marks it as a Christian city), and Helly or Hellim 
of Conti, who is, as iar as I know, the last author who mentions a 

29 2 



452 IBN BATUTA^a TRAVELS IN BENGAL AND CHINA. 

city or country of this name. The name has oontinaed to attach iteelf 
to a remarkable isolated or partially isolated mountain and promontoiy 
on the coast, first in the forms of Cayo de £U {Fra Mawro), Monte d'lli 
(Fra Paclino), Monte de Lin (dbb), Monte di Li (P. Vincemo), and then 
in the oormption Mount Delly, or, as BenneU has it, DiUa. The name 
was also, perhaps, preserved in the Bamdillt of BenneU, a fort on the 
same river as Nileshwaram, but lower in its course, which, before debouch- 
ing near the north side of the mountain, runs parallel to the coast for ten 
or twelve miles. There is also a fort of Deela mentioned by P. Yinoenxo 
and BenneU, immediately north of NUeshwaram. But aU these features 
and names have disappeared from our recent maps, thanks, probably, to 
the Atlas of India, in which, if I am not mistaken. Mount Delly even has 
no place. However ooEreot may be the trigonometrical skeleton of those 
sheets of that publication which represent the coast in question, I think 
no one can use them for topographical studies of this kind without sore 
misgivings as to the filling in of details. The mountain is mentioned by 
Abujfeda as " a great hiU projecting into the sea, visible to voyagen a 
long way off, and known to them as B&s HaiU," but he does not speak of 
the dty or country. Barbosa says '* Monte I^Ely stands in the low 
country dose by the shore, a v^ lofty and round mountain, which serves 
as a beacon and point of departure for aU the ships of Moors and G^entUes 
that navigate the Indian sea. Many springs run down from it, which 
serve to water shipping. It haa also much wood, including a great deal 
of wild cinnamon" (bl). Marco Polo calls Ely an independent kingdom, 
800 nules west of Comari (C. Comorin) ; it had no harbour but such as its 
river afforded ; the king was rich, but had not many people; the natives 
practised piracy on such ships as were driven in by stress of weather ; 
the ships of Manzi (S. China) traded thither, but expedited their lading 
on account of the insufficiency of the ports. Ibn Batuta speaks of HiU 
as a large dty on a great estuary, frequented by large ships, and as one 
of the three (four) ports of Malabar which the Chinese junks visited. 
Pauthier observes in his Marco Polo, *' Ely est nom^e par Ptolem^e *AA^". 
But the Aloe of Ptolemy is an inland city, which must make the identifi- 
cation very questionable. If Nileshweram be Ndcynda, then probably 
we have a trace of Ely in the "Ej^Ahacare of the Periplns. But the passage 
seems defective (see Hudson, i, 33). 

Mount DeUy is mentioned by sevend authors as in their time the soU- 
taty habitat of the true cardamom. Can there be a connexion between 
the name HiU, Ely, and the terms Elachi, Ela» and HU (the form in 
Gi^'arat and the Deccan according to Linschoten) by which the cardamom 
is known in India P 

Marand, a very old place, peopled with Moors, Gtontooe, and Jews, 
speaking the country language, who have dwdt there for a very long 
time (bl), Marabia (dbb, P. VinceMo), The Heribalca of (s) appears 
to be the same place, but the name looks corrupt. It is probable that the 
halea (for Balea) belongs to the next name, and then the Heri may be 
a trace of the lost HiU. 

Balaerpatam, where the King of Cananor resided and had a fortress 



INTEODUCTOBY NOTICK. 453 

(bl), Bolepatam (dbb), Patanam (s, but, if the coigectnre under the hist 
head be oorrect, BaZeapatanam), Balbapatna of Bennell. Fra Paolino 
will have it to be the Balipatna of Ptolemy, and the Palaepatma of the 
Periplns. It wonld seem, however, that the ancient port most be sought 
much further north. (An English Factory in the I7th century.) 

Cakakob ( B, DBB, s). Export trade to Cambay, Hormuz, Coulon, Dabul, 
Ceylon, Maldives, etc. Many merchants and infinity of shipping (b). A 
great and fine city, of great trade ; every year two hundred ships of dif- 
ferent countries took cargoes here (Varihema), Probably the Jur&ttan 
of Ihn Batuta three parasangs firpm Max\jarur (and therefore the Jarabat* 
tan of Edrisi, though misplaced by him, and perhaps the Hairyixatan^ 
for Jaripatan, of Firiahta in Briggs, iv, 632), the residence of the King 
called KovpQ, one of the most powerful in Malabar, who possessed many 
ships trading to Aden, Hormuz, etc. The identification is confirmed by 
the fiu;t that the Bi^'as of Cananor were really called Kola-tiri and their 
kingdom Kola-nada {Fra PaoUno, p. 90-91). In the time of C. Federici it 
had become " a little city," but one from which were exported the whole 
supply of cardamoms, with a good deal of pepper, gihger, areca, betel, 
coco-nuts, molasses, etc. 

Tarmapatam (b, s), Tramapatam (deb), Tremopatam (bl), Tromapatam 
{Varih.), Dhabmapatak ; Darmaftun (for Darmafi&ttan) of Bowlandson's 
To)^fut-^tl-Mvjahideen (p. 52). A great city of Moors who are veiy rich 
merchants and have many great ships; many handsome mosques (bl). 
Probably the Darapattan orFiri8hta(n.s.) and the Dehfattan of ib, which 
he repr«tsent8 as a great town with gardens, etc., on an estuary, under 
the same king as Jur&ttan. 

Terivagante (b), Firamuingate (bl), Tirigath (P. VineenMo); Tslli- 
CHUuu ? (Eng. Factory in I7th cent.) across the river from the last place 
(b), as were also 

Manjaim and Chamobai (bl), Mazeire and Chemobai (b). Maim and 
Chomba (dbb), Mulariam and Camboa (s), Maine and Somba(P. VincenMo), 
both places of the Moors, and of much navigation and trade (b)> viz.^ 
Mahb and Chombb. 

Pudripatam (b), Pedirpatam (bl), Pudipatanam (s), Pnripatanam 
(dbb), the Peudifetania and Bufi'etania of Conti, the Budfattan of zb, and 
probably the Pudopatana of Goemas (see preceding note A). In Ibn 
Batuta's time it was under the same prince as Jur&ttan (which we have 
identified with Cananor), was a considerable city on a great estuaty, and 
one of the finest ports on the coast. The inhabitants were then chiefly 
Brahmins, and there were no Mahomedans. In Barbosa's time again it 
is still a place of much sea trade, but is become " a place of Moors", 
The name is not found in modem maps, but it must have been near the 
Waddakabbb of Keith Johnston's. 

Tiroori (b), Tericori (s); Tikodi ; Corn of Bennell ? 

Panderani (b), Colam Pandarani (s), Pandarane (deb and Varihema), 
Pandanare (bl), Fandaraina (Edrisi and ib), Fenderena (Fra Mauro), 
Fnndreeah of Sowlandaon (u.s., p. 51), Fundarene of Emanuel K. of Por- 
tugal (in a letter quoted in Humboldt's Exam, Critique, v, 101), Fanta* 



454 IBN BATUTA^S TRAVELS IN BENGAL AND CHINA. 

laina of the CLinefle tinder the Mongols (Pauthier*9 Polo, p. 532) Bandi- 
nana (for Bandirana) of AbdulroMtak, Banderana of Balthazar Spinger 
(Iter Indxcam, 1507, in Voyage Litteraire de deux Benedictins, 1724, p. 
864), Flandrina of Odoric (aupra, p. 75). A great and fine place with 
gardens, etc., and many Mahomedans, where such Chinese junks as 
stayed over the monsoon in Malabar were wont to lie (is). A place en- 
tirely of Moors, and haying many ships (b). But then in decay, for Var- 
thema calls it " a poor enough place, and having no port". Opposite, at 
about three leagues distance, was an uninhabited island. This must 
have been the Sacrifice Bock of the maps. The place itself is not men- 
tioned, to my knowledge, after Barbosa's time. 

Conlete (dib), Coulandi (P. Fineeiuio), Coilandy {RenneU) ; Koilakdi. 

Capuoar (b), Capooar(8), Capocate (dbb), Capucate (bl and P. Vineenzo), 
Capogatto, where there was a fine palace in the old style (Varihema), It 
has disi^peared from our mi^. 

Caucut (b, b, i>bb), Cholochut of Fra Mauro, Kilikut, one of the great 
ports frequented by the Chinese junks, and the seat of the Samuri King 
(ib). From Spinger, quoted above, we learn that the Venetian mer- 
chants up to 1507 continued to frequent Calicut for the purchase of spices 
to be carried by the Bed Sea» though the competition of Portuguese and 
OermanM by the Cape was beginning to tell heavily against them. 

Chiliate (bl), Chalia or Calia (s), Chale (dbb and Linsehoien), Ciali 
(P. VinceMo), Shaliyat (Ahu\feda and ib). Ibn Batuta stopped here 
some time and speaks of the stuffs made there which bore the name of 
the place. This stuff was probably shali, the name still given in India 
to a soft twilled cotton, generally of a dark red colour. The Portuguese 
had a fort at Shalia. 

Beypur, now the terminus of the Madras Bailway, is not mentioned by 
any of the old travellers that I know of, till Hamilton (about 1700). Tippu 
Sultan tried to make a great port of it. (see Fra Paolino, p. 87). 

Paremporam (s), Purpurangari (b), Pn>priamguari (bl), Parangale 
(dbb), Berengari (P. Vincewto); Pbbbpbn Akoabbt of some maps, Per- 
penagarde of BennelL 

Paravanor (b), Parananor (bl); Parone of Bennell ? 

Ytanor (b), Banor (bl), Tanor (s and dbb), Tanobb or Tanner. These 
two places had great trade and were the residence of great merchants 
(b). This was an ancient city with many Christian inhabitants, and the 
seat of an independent Bc^a, but in the end of last century had become 
a poor village. 

Panam^ (b), Panane (s and dbb), Ponaki. Many rich merchants 
owning many ships ; the place paid the King of Calicut a large revenue 
from its customs (b). (French and English Factories, 17th cent.). 

Beliamcor (s), Baleancor (dbb), Ballianoot of Bennell, and pro- 
bably the Meliancota or MaJiancora of Conti, "quod nomen magnam 
urbem apud eos designat, viii milliaribus patens". 

Chatua (bl and deb), Catua (b), Chetua (s), Chitwa (Bennell), Cettuva 
(F. Piiolino) ; Chaitwa, 

Palub mentioned here by P. Vincenzo and F. Paolino. I do not know 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 455 

if this IB 'Pta:6T, mentioned by Claadias Buchanan ae the site of the 
oldeet chmoh in Malabar ; bat it is probably the Paliniia of Conti. 

Aykotta, at the month of the river of Cranganor was pointed oat by 
tradition of the native Chnstians as the place where St. Thomae first set 
foot in India. 

Cbakoakob (bl, 8, dbb), Crangalor (b), said to be properly Eodan- 
golor; Carangollor of P. Alvarez, where dwelt Christians, Moors, Jews 
and Caflrs, the Shikali of Abolfeda, Cyngilin of Odoric, etc. (v. supra, p. 
75); according to some aoooonts one of the oldest royal dtiee in Malabar, 
one of the greatest centres of trade and the first place of settlement suc- 
cessively of Jews, Christians, and Mahomedans on this coast. It would 
seem to have been already in decay as a port in the time of Barboea, who 
only says that the King of Cochin drew some duties from it. Sixty years 
later Federici speaks of it ae a small Portuguese fort, a place of little im- 
portance. In 1806 CL Buchanan says: — "There was formerly a town 
and fort at Cranganore . . . but both are now in ruins." It continued, 
however, to be the seat of a B. C. Archbishop. 

Cochin (b, s, dbb), Cochim (bl), Gutschin of Spinger, Cocchi of Of. Balbi: 
properly Eachhi. It was not a place of any trade previous to the four- 
teenth century. In the year 1341 an extraordinary land-fiood produced 
great alterations in the coast at Cochin, and opened acapacious estuary, but 
the place seems to have continued of no great consideration till the arri- 
val of the Portuguese, though now it is the chief port of Malabar. It is 
the CoQym of Conti, the first author, as fieur as I know, who mentions it. 
The circumstances just stated render it in the highest degree improbable 
that Cochin should have been the Cottiara of the ancients, as has often 
been alleged. 

Porca (b, deb), Porqua (bl) ; Pabbakad. Formerly the seat of a small 
principality. Barbosa says the people were fishermen and pirates. Fra 
Paolino in the last century speaks of it as a very populous city fiill of 
merchants, Mahomedan, Christian, and Hindu. (Dutch Factory in 17th 
cent.). 

Caleooulam (b and dbb), Caicolam (s), Katan Ettlam. A considerable 
export of pepper; the residence of many Christians of St. Thomas (b). A 
very populous town sending produce to Parrakad for shipment (F. 
Paolino). (Butch Factory in 17th cent:). 

Coilam (bl), Coulan (b), Colam (s), Colom (O, d'Empoli), Colon (Var- 
thema and Spinger), Eaulam (Abulfeda and ib), Coilon or Coilun (M, Polo), 
Coloen (Conti) ; Eaulam-Mal^ of the merchant SvZeiman (a.d. 861), (see 
p. 71 tupra): the Columbus, Columbum, Colombo, Colonbi of JordaniM and 
Marignolli, Pegoloiti, Carta Caialana, Fra Maura, etc. ; the modem Qitilon. 

Polo speaks of the Christians, the brazil-wood and ginger, both called 
CoUuny after the place (compare the gengiovo Colomhino and vernno 
Colombino of Pegolotti an4 Uzzano), the pepper, and the traffic of ships 
from China and Arabia. Abulfeda defines its position as at the extreme 
end of the pepper country towards the east ("at the extremity of the 
pepper-forest towards the south," says Odoric), whence ships sailed direct 
to Aden ; on a gulf of the sea, in a sandy plain adorned with many gar- 



456 iBN batuta's travels in bengal and china. 

dens ; the biazU tree grew there, and the Mahomedans had a fine mosque 
and square. Ibn Baiuta also notices the fine mosque, and says the city 
was one of the finest in Malabar, with splendid markets, rich merchants, 
etc. It continued to be an important place to the beginning of the 
sixteenth century, when Yarthema speaiks of it as a fine port, and Barboea 
as a ''yeiy great city," with a very good haTen, with many great* mer- 
chants. Moors, and Gtentoos, whose ships traded to all the eastern ports as 
far as Bengal, Pegu, and the Archipelago. But after this its decay must 
have been rapid, and in the following century it had sunk into entire 
insignificance. Throughout the middle ages it appears to haye been one 
of the chief seats of the St. Thomas Christians. 

There were several ports between Quilon and Cape Comorin, but my in* 
formation about them is too defective to carry the list further. 



THE TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN CHINA, 

PRECEDED BY EXTRACTS RELATING TO BENGAL AND HIB 
VOYAGE THROUGH THE ARCHIPELAGO. 



Haying sailed at last (from the Maldives) we were at sea 
for forty-three days, and then we arrived in Bengal. This 
is a country of gpreat extent, and one in which rice is ex- 
tremely abundant. Indeed I have seen no region of the 
earth in which provisions are so plentiful, but the climate 
is muggy, and people from Khor&s&n call it Duzakhast bur 
ni'amat,^ which is as much as to say, A Hell full of good 
things ! 

He then proceeds to give a number of details as to the cheap- 
ness of various commodities, from which we select a few : — 

Mahomed ul Masmtidl the Moor, a worthy man who died 
in my house at Dehli, had once resided in Bengal. He told 
me that when he was there with his family, consisting of 
himself his wife and a servant, he used to buy a twelve- 
mouth's supply of food for the three of them for eight 
dirhems. For he bought rice in the husk at the rate of 
eight dirhems for eighty rothl, Dehli weight ; and when he 
had husked it he still had fifty rothl of rice or ten kant&rs.^ 

1 Should be (Pert.) ]>iMakh att pur-i ni'amat ! " Ji w a Hell fiill of 
wealth." This is much the way in which Saltan Baber speaks of India, 
oonduding with the summaxy that " the chief excellence of Hindustan is 
that it is a large country, and has abundance of gold and silver" (p. 838), 
uid such I fear have been the sentiments of many others from further west. 

* In a passage omitted ho explains that an Indian dinar was equal to 



458 TBAVEx^ OF IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHIKA^ 

I have seen a milch cow sold in Bengal for three silver 
dinars (the cattle of that country are buffaloes). As for fat 
fowls^ I have seen eight sold for a dirhem, whilst small 
pigeons were to be had at fifteen for a dirhem. . . A piece 
of fine cotton cloth of excellent quality, thirty cubits in 
length, has been sold in my presence for two dinars (of 
silver). A beautiful girl of marriageable age I have also 
seen sold for a dinar of gold, worth two and a half gold 
dinars of Barbary. For about the same money I myself 
bought a young slave girl called Ashura, who was endowed 
with the most exquisite beauty. And one of my comrades 
bought a pretty little slave, called Liild {Pearl), for two 
golden dinars. 

The first city of Bengal which we entered was called 
Sadkawan, a big place on the shore of the Great Sea.* The 
river Ganges, to which the Hindus go on pilgrimage, and 

eight dirhems of silrer (see note A preceding), and that a Tothl of Dehli 
was equal to twenty rothl of Barbary. The editors in a note on a pre- 
vious passage say that a rothl and a half of Barbary was equal to a kilo- 
gramme, which (taken exactly) would make the Dehli rothl of that day 
equal to 28.78 Iba. avoirdupois. In another place (ii, 74) he applies the 
more appropriate term mann (or maund, as in Anglo-India) to the Dehli 
weight, and says it was equal to twenty-five rothl of Egypt. The former 
calculation is corroborated with an exactness which must be partly for- 
tuitous by a deduction from a statement in the Mcudlak^ul'Ahsdr, Accord- 
ding to this work the current weights of Dehli were the eir, and the mann 
of forty airs, precisely the terms and rates now current in Hindustan, 
but with different values. For the sir it is said was equal to seventy 
mithhdU. According to Amari the mithkal is 4.665 grammes, a datum 
which gives the sir=.72 lb., and the mann=2S,90 Ihs, The modem 
" Indian maund" is a little over 82 lbs., and all the local maunds in the 
Bengal Presidency at this ^y approximate to that. We have seen (note 
A, p« 441) that the dinar probably represents the rupee. The quantity 
of unhusked rice purchased for the rupee in Ibn Batuta's time would 
therefore be about 2,800 lbs., equal to 28 modem maunds, about nine 
times as much for the money m I can remember ever to have heard of 
in our own time. 

^ Both Chatgdnw (or Chittagong) and Satginw (on the Hugli* some 
twenty-five to twenty-eight miles above Calcutta) were important havens 
when the Portuguese arrived in India, and the name here might from 
the pen of an Arab represent either of them. But Chittagong only of 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPELAOC 459 

the river Jun* unite in that neighbourhood before falling 
into the sea. The people of Bengal maintain a number of 
vessels on the liver^ with which they engage in war against 
the inhabitants of Laknaoti.' The King of Bengal was the 
Saltan Fakhruddin^ sumamed Fakhrah^ a prince of distinc- 
tion who was fond of foreigners^ especially of Fakirs and 
Sufis. 

The traveller then recapitulates the hands through which the 
sceptre of Bengal had passed from the time of the Sultan Nasir- 
nddin (the Bakarra Khan of Elphinstone*s History), son of 
Balaban King of Dehli. After it had been held successively by 
two sons of Nasiruddin, the latter of these was attacked and 
killed by Mahomed Tughlak.^ 

Mahomed then named as governor of Bengal a brother- 
in-law of his own, who was murdered by the troops. Upon 
this Ali Shah, who was then at Laknaoti, seized the king- 

the two is near the shore of the ocean, and we know moreover that it was 
in this part of Bengal that Fakhraddin set up his authority. Hence Ibn 
Batuta must have landed at Chittagong. 

^ /6n is the name which our traveller applies to the Jumna. But it is 
difficult to suppose that even Ibn Batuta's loose geography could con- 
ceive of the Jumna, whose banks he had frequented for eight years, as 
joining the Ganges near the tea. That now main branch of the Brahma- 
putra which flows into the Ganges near JafiEugunge is called the Janai, 
and I have heard it called by natives Jumna, though this I supposed to 
be an accidental blunder. Whatever confusion eziBted in our traveUer's 
mind, I suppose that it was the junction of the Ganges and Brahma- 
putra of which he had heard. 

* LaknaoH is the same as Gaur, long the capital of the Mahomedan 
governors and sultans in Bengal, the remains of which are scattered over 
an extensive site near Malda. Firishta disting^uishes the three provinces 
into which Bengal was divided at this time as Laknaoti, Sunarganw, and 
Chatganw (Brigge, i, 423). It would seem that by Bengal Ibn Batuta 
means only the two latter. 

* The second of these princes, Ghaiassuddin Bahiidur Burah, is entirely 
omitted by Firishta, but the fieust of his reign has been established by a 
coin and other evidence, in coiroboration of Ibn Batuta (D^. and Sang. 
Preiace to vol. iii, p. xxv). Some notes of mine from Stewart's History of 
Bengal appear to show that the reign of Bah&dur Sh&h is related in that 
work. 



460 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IK BENGAL^ CHINA^ 

dom of Bengal. When Fakhruddin saw that the royal 
authority had thus passed from the family of the Saltan Nasir- 
uddin, whose descendant he was, he raised a revolt in 
Sadk&w&n and Bengal, and declared himself independent. 
The hostility between him and Ali Shah was very bitter. 
When the winter came, bringing rain and mud, Fakhruddin 
would make an attack upon the Laknaoti country by the 
river, on which he could muster great strength. But when 
the diy season returned, Ali Shah would come down upon 
Bengal by land, his force that way being predominant.^ 

^ These events are thus related by Stewart from Fixishta and other 
Persian aathorities : — 

Mahomed Toghlak soon after his snooession appointed Kadir Khan to 
the government of Laknaoti, and confirmed Bairam Khan in that of 
Sonarganw. These two chiefe governed their respective territories for 
some fourteen years with mach equity. In 1338 Bairam Khan died at 
Sonarganw at the time when Sultan Mahomed was busy with the transfer 
of his capital to Danlatabad. Fakhruddin, the armour bearer of Bairam 
Khan, took the opportunity not only to assume the government, but to 
declare himself independent under the title of Sultan Sikandar. The 
Emperor ordered his expulsion by Kadir Khan, who marched against the 
rebel from Laknaoti, defeated him, and took possession of Sunarganw. 
There was a large sum in the treasury there, which Kadir Khan was 
preparing to forward to Delhi. Fakhruddin made known to the troops of 
Kadir Khan, that if they would kill their master and join him, he would 
distribute the treasure among them. They consented; Kadir Khan was 
slain, and Fakhruddin again took possession of Sunarganw, where he 
fixed his capital, proclaiming himself sovereign of Bengal, coining and 
issuing edicts in his own name. This was in 1340. He then sent an 
army to seize Laknaoti, but it was resisted and defeated by Ali Mubarak, 
one of the officers of the deceased governor, who, on this success, applied 
to the emperor for the government, but assumed it without waiting a 
reply, under the name of Alauddin, marched against Fakhruddin, took 
him prisoner, and put him to death, after a reign of only two years and 
five months, in 1342-8. A year and five months later, Ali Mubarak was 
assassinated by his foster brother, Hiyas, who took possession of the 
kingdom under the title of Shamsuddin, and established his capital at 
Pandua (now a station on the railway between Calcutta and Burdwan, 
where there are some curious remains of the Mahomedan dynasty). See 
Stewart's History of Bengal, pp. 80-84. 

We see from Ibn Batuta, that the date assigned to the death of Fakhr- 
uddin by the historians is much too early. For the traveller's visit to 
Bengal appears to have occurred in the cold weather of 1346-47, so that 
Fakhruddin was reigning at least four years later than Stewart's author- 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPKLAOO. 461 

• «•••«• 

When I entered Sadk&w&n I did not visit the sultan^ nor ' 
did I hold any personal communication with him, because 
he was in revolt against the Emperor of India, and I feared 
the consequences if I acted otherwise. Quitting Sadkawan 
I went to the mountains of Kamrh, which are at the dis- 
tance of a month's journey. They form an extensive range, 
bordering on China and also on the country of Tibet, where 
the musk-antelopes are found. The inhabitants of those 
regions resemble the Turks [i.e. the Tartars] and are capital 
people to work, so that as a slave one of them is as good as 
two or three of another race.^ 

My object in going to the hill country of Kamru was to 
see a holy personage who lives there, the Shaikh Jalaluddin 
of Tabriz.^ This was one of the most eminent of saints, 
and one of the most singular of men, who had achieved most 
worthy deeds, and wrought miracles of great note. He was 
(when I saw him) a very old man, and told me that he had 
seen the KhalifMostasim Billah the Abasside at Baghdad, and 
was in that city at the time of his murder.' At a later date 
I heard from the Shaikh's disciples of his death at the age 
of one hundred and fifty years. I was also told that he had 
fasted for some forty years, breaking his fast only at inter- 
vals of ten days, and this only with the milk of a cow that 
he kept. He used also to remain on his legs all night. The 
shaikh was a tall thin man, with little hair on his face. The 
inhabitants of those mountains embraced Islam at his hands, 
and this was his motive for living among them. 

Some of his disciples told me that the day before his 

itiea represent. The AH Shah of Ibn Batata is no doubt the Ali Maba- 
rak of Stewart. 

1 A diBCOBsion as to the direction of this excursion to KdmHt. wiU be 
found in Note £ at the end of this paper. 

' Farther on he is styled ShirM, instead of TdMt< (iii, 287). 

) The Khalif Mostasim Billah was put to death by Halagu, after the 
captore of Baghdad in 1258, therefore eighty-eight years previoas to this 
Tisit. 



462 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IK BBKOAL^ CHINA^ 

death lie called them together^ and after exhorting them to 
live in the fear of God, went on to say : '' I am assured that, 
God willing, I shall leave you to morrow, and as regards 
you (my disciples) God Himself, the One and Only, will be 
my successor." Next day, just as he was finishing the noon- 
tide prayer, God took his soul during the last prostration. 
At one side of the cave in which he dwelt they found a 
grave ready dug, and beside it a winding sheet with spices. 
They washed his body, wound it in the sheet, prayed over 
him, and buried him there. 

When I was on my way to visit the shaikh, four of his 
disciples met me at a distance of two days journey from his 
place of abode. They told me that the shaikh had said to 
the fakirs who were with him : " The Traveller from the 
west is coming ; go and meet him," and that they had come 
to meet me in consequence of this command. Now he knew 
Nothing whatever about me, but the thing had been re- 
vealed to him. 

I set out with these people to go and see the shaikh, and 
arrived at the hermitage outside of his cave. There was no 
cultivation near the hermitage, but the people of the coun- 
try, both Mussulman and heathen, used to pay him visits, 
bringing presents with them, and on these the fakirs and 
the travellers [who came to see the shaikh] were supported. 
As for the shaikh himself he had only his cow, with whose 
milk he broke his fast every ten days, as I have told you. 
When I went in, he got up, embraced me, and made in- 
quiries about my country and my travels. I told him about 
these, and then he said, " Thou art indeed the Traveller of 
the Arabs !" His disciples who were present here added, 
" And of the Persians also. Master !" — " Of the Persians 
also," replied he ; '' treat him then with consideration." 
So they led me to the hermitage and entertained me for 
three days. 

The day that I entered the shaikh^s presence he was 



AND THS INDIAN ARCHIPELAaO. 463 

wearing an ample mantle of goat's hair which greatly took 
my fancy, so that I could not help saying to myself ''I wish 
to God that he wonld give it me I" When I went to take my 
leave of him he got up, went into a comer of his cave, took 
off this mantle andmade me put it on, as well as a high cap 
which he took from his head, and then himself put on a coat 
all covered with patches. The fakirs told me that the shaikh 
was not in the habit of wearing the dress in question, and 
that he only put it on at the time of my arrival, saying to 
them : ''The man of the West will ask for this dress ; a Pagan 
king will take it from him, and give it to our Brother 
Burh&nuddln of Sdgharj to whom it belongs, and for whom 
it was made V When the fakirs told me this, my answer was : 
"Tve got the shaikh's blessing now he has put his mantle 
on me, and I'll take care not to wear it in visiting any king 
whatever, be he idolater or be he Islamite." So I quitted 
the shaikh, and a good while afterwards it came to pass that 
when I was travelling in China I got to the city of EJiansi.^ 
The crowd about us was so great that my companions got 
separated from me. Now it so happened that I had on this 
very dress of which we are speaking, and that in a certain 
street of the city the wazir was passing with a great fol- 
lowing, and his eye lighted on me. He called me to him, 
took my hand^ asked questions about my journey, and did 
not let me go till we had reached the residence of the sultan.^ 
I then wanted to quit him ; however he would not let me go, 
but took me in and introduced me to the prince, who began 
to ask me questions about the various Mussulman sovereigns. 
Whilst I was answering his questions, his eyes were fixed 
with admiration on my mantle. ''Take it off," said the 
wazir ; and there was no possibility of disobeying. So the 

1 Qainsai, Cansay, etc., of oar European travellers, see pp. 113, 289, 354, 

* The viceroy, as appears more dearly below. But some of the vice- 
roys under the Mongols seem to have bome the title of Wang or King, 
so that Ibn Batata may not be altogether wrong in calling him Sultan, 



464 TRAVELS OF IBN BATT7TA IN BENGAL^ CHIKAj 

saltan took the dress^ and ordered them to give me ten robes 
of honour, a horse saddled and bridled, and a sum of money. 
I was vexed about it ; but then came to my mind the shaikh's 
saying that a Pagan king would take this dress from me, and 
I was greatly astonished at its being thus fulfilled. The year 
following I came to the residence of the King of China at 
Ehanbalik, and betook myself to the Hermitage of the 
Shaikh Burhanuddin of S&gharj. I found him engaged in 
reading, and lo ! he had on that very dress 1 So I began to 
feel the stuff with my hand. ''Why dost thou handle it ? 
Didst ever see it before ?" " Yes,*' quoth I, "'tis the mantle 
the Sultan of Khans& took from me.'' ''This mantle," 
replied the shaikh, "was made for me by my brother 
Jalaluddin, and he wrote to me that it would reach me by 
the hands of such an one." So he showed me Jalaluddin's 
letter, which I read, marvelling at the shaikh's prophetic 
powers. On my telling Burhanuddin the first part of the 
story, he observed: "My brother Jalaluddin is above all 
these prodigies now ; he had, indeed, supernatural resources 
at his disposal, but now he hath past to the mercies of God. 
They tell me," he added, "that he used every day to say his 
morning prayers at Mecca, and that every year he used to 
accomplish the pilgrimage. For he always disappeared on 
the two days of Arafat and the feast of the Sacrifices, and no 
one knew whither."* 

When I had taken leave of the shaikh Jalaluddin I pro- 
ceeded towards the city of Habane, which is one of the 
greatest and finest that is anywhere to be found. It is 
traversed by a river which comes down from the mountains 
of Kamru, and which is called the Blue River. By it you 
can descend to Bengal, and to the Laknaoti country. Along 
the banks of this river there are villages, gardens, and water- 
wheels to right and left, just as one sees on the banks of the 

■ Lady Duff Gordon made acquaintance in Egypt with a very holy 
shaikh, who, though dweUing on the Nile, was believed by the people to 
perform his devotions daily at Mecca (quoted in the Times, Sept. 15, 1865). 



AND THE INDIAN AfiCHIPELAGO. 465 

Nile in Egypt. The people of these villqges are idolaters, 
but under the rule of the Musalmans. The latter take from 
them the half of their crops, and other exactions besides. 
We travelled upon this river for fifteen days, always passing 
between villages and garden lands ; it was as if we had been 
going through a market. You pass boats innumerable, and 
every boat is furnished with a drum. Wheu two boats meet, 
the drum on board each is beaten, whilst the boatmen ex- 
change salutations. The Sultan Fakhruddin before-men- 
tioned gave orders that on this river no passage money 
should be taken from fakirs, and that such of them as had 
no provision for their journey should be supplied. So when 
a fakir arrives at a town he gets half a dinar. At the end of 
fifteen days^ voyage, as I have said, we arrived at the city of 
SuNUB Kawan\ ... on our arrival there we found a junk 

* Snnarganw (Suvama-gramma, or Qolden Town) has already been 
mentioned as one of the medieval capitals of Bengal. Coins struck there 
in 1353 and 1357 are described by Beinaud in Jour. Aaiat., m, 272. It 
lay a few miles S.E. of Dacca ; but I belieye its exact site is not recover- 
able in that region of vast shifting rivers. It appears in Frau Mauro's 
map as Sonargauam, and must have continued at least till the end of the 
sixteenth centnry, for it is named as a district town in the Ayin Akbari, 
and retains its place in Blaeu's great Atlas (Amst. IG62, vol. x) as 
Swmaquam. 

I formerly thought this Somagam must be the Cbrnove of Conti. But 
the report of a paper on Bengal Coins by Mr. Edward Thomas (Athen., 
Feb. 3, 1866) informs us that Laknaoti (Gaur) was renovated some time 
in the fourteenth century by the name of Shahb-i-nau (New City). Here 
we have Cemove, and still more distinctly the Sciebno of Fra Mauro. 
Shahr-i-nau, I find, is also mentioned by Abdul-razzak (India in the 
fifteenth cent,, p. 6). 

Snnarganw must dispute with Chittagong the claim to be that '* city 
of Bengala" which has so much troubled those interested in Asiatic 
medieval geography, and respecting which Mr. Badger has an able dis- 
quisition in his preface to Yarthema. That there ever was a town pro- 
perly so-called, I decline to believe, any more than that there was a city 
of the Peninsula properly called Ma'bar (v. supra, p. 218), or that Canton 
was properly called Mahachin (p. 106) ; but these examples sufficiently 
show the practice which applied the name of a country to its chief port. 
The name becomes a blunder only when found side by side with the pro- 
per name as belonging to a distinct place. Bengala appears as a city in 

*30 



466 TRAVELS OF IBN 6ATTUA IN BENQAL^ CHINA^ 

whjch was just going to sail for the country of Java^ distant 
forty days' voyage. 

On this junk he took his passage, and after fifteen days they 
touched at Barahnaoab, where the men had mouths like dogs, 
whilst the women were extremely beautiful. He describes them 
as in a very uncivilised state, almost without an apology for 
clothing, but cultivating bananas, betel-nut, and pawn. Some 
MahomedaDS from Bengal and Java were settled among them. 
The king of these people came do¥ni to see the foreigners, at- 
tended by some twenty others, all mounted on elephants. The 
chief wore a dress of goatskin with the hair on, and coloured silk 
handkerchiefs round his head, carrying a spear.^ 

the ooiiooa and half obliterated Portulano Medieeo of the Laorentian 
labTazy (a.d. 1851), and also in the Carta Catalana of 1375. By Fra 
Maoro BengaUa is shown in addition to Sonar^uam and Batgauam (pro- 
bably Chittagong). Its position in many later maps, indading Blaen's, 
has been detailed by Mr. Badger. But I may mention a corions passage 
in the trayels of V. le Blanc, who says he came "an Boyaome de Bengale, 
dont la prinoipale ville est anssi appellee Bengale par les Portngais, et 
par les autres nations ; mais ceoz du pais I'appellent Bataoonta." He 
adds, that ships asoend the Ganges to it, a distance of twenty miles by 
water, eto. Sir T. Herbert also speaks of "Bengala., anciently called 
Baracura^' etc. (Fr. transL, p. 490). But on these anthoritiee I mast re- 
mark that Le Blanc is almost quite worthless, the greater part of his book 
being a mere concoction, with mnch pure fiction, whilst Herbert is here 
to be suspected of borrowing from Le BUnc ; and there is reason to be- 
lieve, I am sorry to say, that the bulk of Sir Thomas's travels eastward of 
Persia is factitious and hashed up from other books. One of the latest 
atlases containing the city of Bengiala is that of CoroneUi (Venice 1691); 
and he adds the judidoos comment, " oredutafavolosa" 

> Lee takes Barahnagar for the Nicobar Islands, Dolaorier for the 
Andamans. With the people of the latter there does not seem to have 
been intercourse at any time, but the Nioobars might be fairly identified 
with the place described by our traveller, were it not for the elephants 
which are so prominent in the picture. It is in the highest degree im- 
probable that elephants were ever kept upon those islands. Hence, if 
this feature be a genuine one, the scene must be referred to the main- 
land, and probably to some part of the coast of Arakan or Pegu, where 
the settlements of the wilder races, such as the Khyens of the Arakan 
Toma, might have extended down to the sea. Such a position might 
best be sought in the neighbourhood of the Island Kegrais (Naoarit of 
the Burmese), where the extremity of the Yoma Bange does abut upon 
the sea. And it is worth noting that, the sea off Negrais is called by 
CsBsar Frederic and some other sixteenth century travellers, "the Sea of 
Bara." The combination of Bara-Nagarit is at least worthy of consider- 



AHD THE INDIAM ABCHIPKUOO. 467 

In twenty-five daya more they reached the island of Java, as 
he calls it, but is &ct that which we call 8[jiutba.^ 

ktion. The coloured hondkerchiefB on the head are quite a charact«iiBtia 
of the pec^le in qaestioii ; I cannot say aa much for the goat-akiiiB. 

DnLumer, hotrerer, points ont that Borah Nagdr may repraeent the 
Malay Bdrat " West," and Nagdrd " City or Country." This is the more 
irorthy of notioe aa the crew of the junk were probably Malaya, bnt the 
interpretation would be quite oonsiatent with the position that I su^eat. 
I take the dog's mnEile to be only a strong way of deaoribing the pro- 
trndisg 1^ and coarae featores of one common type of Indo-Cliineee 
bee. The atory as regards the beaatiiiil women of these dog-headed 
men is exactly aa Jordanns had heard it (Ft. Jord., p. 44 j and compaie 
Odarie, p. 97). This probably alludes to the foet that among some of 
these raoee, and the Burmese nay be eapeoially instanoed, considerable 
elegance and refinement of feature is not un&eqnently seen among the 



women ; tliere is one type of face almost Italian, of whioh I have eeen 
repeated instances in Burmese /«mab faces, never amongst the men. A 
like story existed amongst the Chinese and Tartan, bat in it the men 
wera dogs and not dog-ftced merely ; this story however probably had a 
similar origin (see King Hethum'i Sarr. in Jowm, At., ser. ii, torn. lU, 
p. 288, and Plana Corptnt, p. 667). I give an example of the type of male 
foce that I snppose to be alluded to ; it representa however two heads of 
the Bitmda peaaantiy in Java, aa I have no Burmeae heads available. 

> The terms Jowa, Jawt, appear to have been applied by the Arabs to 
the ishtnda and productions of the Archipelago generally {Cravf. Diet, 
btd. Iilandi, p. 166), bat certainly also at times to Sumatra apecificaUy, 
■e by Abulfeda and Marco Polo (Java Afinor). There is evidence how- 
ever that even in old times of Hindu influence in the islands Sumatra 
bore the name of Java or rather Tava (see Friedrich in the Batavian 
Trmuaelitmt, vol. ixvi, p. 77, and preetd.). 

30 > 



468 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BSNOAL^ CHINA^ 

It was verdant and beautifal ; most of its trees being coco- 
palms^ areca-palms^ clove-trees^ Indian aloes^ jack-trees,^ 
Mangoes, Jamun,* sweet orange trees, and camphor-canes. 

The port which they entered was called Sabha, four miles from 
the city of Sumatra or Sumatra, the capital of the king called 
Malik Al-Dhahir, a zealous disciple of Islam, who showed the 
traveller much hospitality and attention. 

Ibn Batuta remained at the Court of Sumatra, where he appears 
to have found officials and brethren of the law from all parts of 
the Mahomedan world, for fifteen days, and then asked leave to 
proceed on his voyage to China, as the right season had arrived. 
The king ordered a junk to be got ready, supplied the traveller 
with all needful stores, and sent one of his own people to accom- 
pany him and look after his comfort.^ 

After sailing, he says, for one and twenty days along the coasts 
of the country belonging to Malik-Al-Dhahir, they arrived at 
Mul-Jawa,* a region inhabited by Pagans, which had an extent 
of some two months' journey, and produced excellent aromatics, 

I Shdki and Barhi, For details on which see Fr, Jord., p. 13, and 
•tfpra, p. 862. 

' The French editors render this Jamhu^ bat the Jomim which is meant 
here is quite another thing^. On two former occasions (ii, 191 ; iii, 128) 
oar traveller describes the fruit as being like an olive ; which would be 
as like the Jambu or Bose-apple as a hawk is like a handsaw. The 
Jdmun, which is common in Upper India and many other parts of the 
east, is really veiy much like an oiive in size, colour and form, whilst the 
Jambu is at leadt as lar^ as a duck's egfc> in the different varieties exhi- 
biting various shades of brilliant pink and crimson softening into' white. 

Erdkine, in a note to Baber, notice^ the same concision by a former com- 
mentator, and the source of it appears to be that the JAmun is called by 
botanists Eugenia Jambolana, the Bose-apple Eugenia Jambu, from which 
one must conclude them to be akin, thoogh neither fruits nor trees have 
any superficial likeness (Baber'a Memoirs, p. 325). 

* Respecting MaJik-al-Dhahir, son of Malik-al-Salah, first Mahomedan 
King of Sumatra, see Dulaurier. The port of Sarha is identified by this 
scholar with Jambu Air, a village of the Batta coast between Vasei and 
Diamond Point. In that case the city of Sumutra or Samudra, which 
has given a name to the great Island, cannot have been so far west as 
Samarlanga (see supra, p. 86; Jbum. Indian Arehip., ii, 610; Joum, As,, 
ser. iv, tom. iz, p. 124; Id., tom. zi, p. 94). 

^ See in note F at the end of the narrative, the editor's reasons for 
supposing Mul-Jawa to be a continental country on the Gulf of Siam. 



AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAQO. 469 

especially the aloes-wood of KaeuIiA^ and Kamara, places which 
were both in that country. 

The port which they entered was that of Kakula, a fine city 
with a wall of hewn stone wide enongh to admit the passage of 
three elephants abreast. There were war jnnks in the harbour 
equipt for piratical cruising, and also to enforce the tolls which 
were exacted from foreign vessels. The traveller saw elephants 
coming into the town loaded with aloes- wood, for the article was 
so common as to be popularly used for fuel. Elephants were also 
employed for all kinds of purposes, whether for personal use or 
for the carriage of goods ; everybody kept them, and everybody 
rode upon them. 

The traveller was presented to the Pagan king, in whose pre- 
sence he witnessed an extraordinary act of self-immolation,^ and 
was entertained at the royal expense for three days, after which 
he proceeded on his voyage. 

But in connexion with Mul- Jawa, where there was a market 
for the productions of the Archipelago, he takes occasion to state 
'* what he knew of these from actual observation, and after veri- 
fying that which he had heard," and these statements it is well 
to quote at length, as throwing light on some of our author's 
qualifications as a traveller. 

On Incense, 

The incense tree is small, and at most does not exceed a 

■ Kakula is mentioned by Edrisi also, as a city towards China, stand- 
ing upon a river which flowed into the Indian Ocean. Its people, accord- 
ing to that geographer, raised much silk, whence the name of Kakali was 
giren to a kind of silk staff (Jauberft Edrin, i, 185). 

The position of Kumdra or Komar, the place firom which the Knmari 
aloes came, has been inextricably confused by the Arabian geographers, 
for whilst some applications of the name point distinctly to the region of 
Cape Comorin, other authorities as well as Ibn Batata place it in the 
Tidnity of the Archipelago, and others again appear to confound it with 
Kamru or Assam. Mr. Lane considers Sindbad's Komari to have been 
on one or other shore of the Qalf of Siam, and this quite agrees with the 
▼iew taken by the editor of the position of Mal-Jawa. Abulfeda also places 
Komar to the west of Sa/i\foT Champa, with a short day's Toyage between 
the countries. If his Sani^ as is probable, indudee Cambodia, this also 
would indicate the northern part of the Malay Peninsala. 

- Soe f V. Jordanus, p. 33 note. 



470 TRAVELS OF IBN BAT OTA IN BENGAL^ CHIKA^ 

man's heiglit. Its branches resemble those of a thistle or 

artichoke; its leaves are small and narrow; sometimes they 

drop and leave the tree bare. The incense is a resinous 

substance found in the branches of the tree. There is more 

of this in the Musalman countries than in those of the 

Infidels.^ 

On Gamplun'. 

As for the trees which furnish camphor they are canes like 
those of our countries ; the only difference beings that in the 
former the joint or tube between the knots is longer and 
thicker. The camphor is found on the inside of each joints 
so that when the cane is broken you see within the joint a 
similar joint of camphor. The surprising thing about it is 
that the camphor does not form in these canes till after some 
animal has been sacrificed at the root. Till that be done 
there is no camphor. The best^ which is called in the 
country Al Harddlah, viz., that which has reached the highest 
degree of congelation^ and a drachm dose of which will kill 
a man by freezing his breathy is taken from a cane beside 
which a human victim has been sacrificed. Young elephants 
may, however, be substituted with good efiect for the human 
victim.* 

1 It is Benzoin of which ho speaks here under the name of Ijuhan, i.e. 
Olibanum or inoense. The resin is derived from the Styrtm Benzoin by 
wounding the bark. After ten or twelve years produce the tree is cut 
down, and a very inferior article is obtained by scraping the bark. It is 
imported in large white masses, resembling white marble in fracture. 
The plant which, as he says, is of moderate size, is cultivated chiefly in 
the Batta countiy of Sumatra, not far from the dominions of his friend 
Malik-al-Dhahir ; hence probably his reference to the country of the 
Musuhnans (Craw/,, Diet, Ind, Islands ; MaeeuUoch's Comm, Diet.), The 
word Al'Arshak or Harzhirf, which Defr^mery translates " thistle or arti- 
choke," is said by Dulaurier to mean " the plant called Cynara Seolimuz" 

^ Dulaurier quotes an analogous practice in Tunking. 

The description here given of the production of camphor has no 
resemblance to the truth, and I suspect that he may have con- 
founded with camphor either something that he had learned about the 
Talxuhir or siliceous concretion found in bamboo-joints, called by Lin- 
schoten Saeear-Mambu (bamboo-sugar), or Spodiwn, if that be not the 



AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 471 

On the Indian Aloes-wood. 

The Indian aloes is a tree like the oak^ excepting that it 
has a thin bark. Its leaves are precisely like those of the 
oak, and it produces no fruit. Its trunk does not grow to 
any great size ; its roots are long, and extend far from the 
tree ; in them resides the fragrance or aromatic principle. 

In the country of the Mahomedans all trees of aloes-wood 
are considered property ; but in the infidel countries they aro 
generally left uncared for. Among them, however, those 
which grow at Kdkula are cared for, and these give the aloes 
of the best quality. Such is the case also with those of 
Eamilra, the aloes-wood of which is of high quality. These 
are sold to the people of Java (Sumatra) in exchange for 
cloths. There is also a special kind of Kam&ri aloes which 
takes an impression like wax. As for that which is called 
'Aihds, they cut the roots, and put them under ground for 

same thing. For tliis last is explained by Gesare Federici to be "a con- 
gelation in certain canes/' and in the work of Da Uzzano {w/pra, p. 283), 
there is mention several times of lapodio di Canna, (The Spodium of 
Maroo Polo is a different substance ; as he describes it, a metallic slag). 

"The Malay camphor tree Dipierocarpwt Cam^hora or Dryabala/nojps 
CampKora of botanists, is a large forest tree, confined, as far as is known, 
to a few parts of the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, but in these abun- 
dant. The oil, both in a fluid and solid state, is found in the body of the 
tree where the sap should be" {Cravofurd'a Bid, oflnd. lal.). The de- 
scription in the text is yet more inapplicable to the Chinese camphor, 
obtained by distillation from the Cinnamomwn Camphora. 

Far nearer the truth is the description of Eazwini the Arabian geo- 
grapher. He says the camphor is drawn both in a liquid state and in 
gummy particles from the branches and stem of a tree large enough to 
shade one hundred men. He had heard that a season of thunder and 
earthquakes was fayourable to the production. Like Maroo Polo he 
speaks of the camphor of FantUr as the best ; supposed to be the modem 
Bdr&s on the west side of Sumatra (QUdem., pp. 194, 209). 

The word Harddlah, which Ibn Batuta applies to a species of camphor, 
does not seem to be known. I suspect he may have made a stiU further 
embroilment, and that what he has got hold of is the Malay Artdl, cor- 
responding to the Hindustani Koridl, "oxpiment; native sulphuret of 



arsenic." 



472 TBAVEL9 OP IBN BATUTA IS BENGAL, CHINA^ 

several months. It preserves all its qualities, and is one of 
the best kinds of aloes.^ 

On the Clove. 

The trees that bear cloves grow to a great age and size. 
They are more nnmerous in the country of the infidels than 
in that of the Mahomedans ; and they are in such profusion 
that they are not regarded as property. What is imported 
into our country consists of the wood (or twigs) ; what the 
people of our countries call the Flower of Clove consists of 
those parts of the flowers which fall, and which are like the 
flowers of the orange tree. The fruit of the clove is the nut- 
meg, which we know as the sweet nut. The flower which 
forms on it is the mace. And this is what I have seen with 
my own eyes.* 

^ Acoording to Crawfnrd the tree yielding Agila, eagle-wood or aloes- 
wood, has not been ascertained, but probably belongs to the Leguminosa. 
There can be no donbt, he adds, that the perfumed wood is a result of 
disease in the tree, produced by the thickening of its sap into a gum or 
resin. The name Aloes (*AA^ in Coatwu, p. 836) is probably a corruption of 
the Arabic name with the article AWU'd, " The Wood" (par exeeUenee). 
It has nothing to do with any kind of aloe properly so called. The name 
Agila, which has been modified or erroneously translated into Aquila, 
EagU'VJOod, Adler-holu, etc., is believed to be a corruption of Aguni, one 
of the Sanscrit terms for the article. Both EAkuli and Eum&ri aloes 
are mentioned by Avicenna among the good kinds, but not as standing 
highest. He names as the best the Mandali, and the Hindi Jibali or 
Indian mountain aloes ; the Scunandf&ri ; the Kumdri ; the SoMfi 
(from Champa); the Kdkulis and the Chinese kind termed KoMmuri, 
Gerarde, in his " Herball," speaks of three kinds of lign-aloes as known 
in England in his time, differing greatly in quality and price. Gutzlaff 
also in our day speaks of three kinds in the markets of Cochin-China. 

The term 'Athda, according to Dnlaurier, is not known elsewhere in 
this application ; the word in Arabic means sneesing ; perhaps it indicates 
an effect, like the Scotch sneeshin for snuff P (See QUdemeitier, pp. 64-27 ; 
/. B, Q, S., ziz, 102; Gerarde, p. 1623; MalMfrun in his Trans, of Bar. 
row* 8 Cochin China, ii, 351 ; Varthema'a Travels with Mr. Badger's notes.) 

' And yet it is thick with misstatements. The legend that cinnamon 
is the bark, the dove the flower, and the nutmeg the fruit, of one and 
the same tree, has come down to our day in Upper India, for I have been 
asked by a respectable Mahomedan at Dehli if it were not so; and Ibn 
Batuta is much more likely to have picked up this bit of economic botany 
in the Dehli Basar than in the Moluccas as Lassen will have it. Strange 



AKD THE INDIAN ABCHIPELAQO. 473 

After leaving Kakula they sailed for thirty-four days^ and 
then arrived at the Calm or Pacdfic Sea ful Bahr-ul Kdhil), 
which is of a reddish tint^ and in spite of its great extent is 
disturbed by neither winds nor waves. The boats were 
brought into play to tow the ship^ and the great sweeps of 
the junk were pulled likewise.^ They were thirty-seven 
days in passing this sea^ and it was thought an excellent 
passage^ for the time occupied was usually forty or fifty days 
at least. They now arrived at the country of Tawalisi, a 
name derived^ according to Ibn Batuta, from that of its king. 

It is very extensive^ and the sovereign is the equal of the 
King of China. He possesses numerous junks with which 
he makes war upon the Chinese until they sue for peace^ and 
consent to grant him certain concessions. The people are 
idolaters; their countenances are good^ and they bear a strong 
resemblance to the Turks. They are usually of a copper 
complexion^ and are very vaUant and warlike. The women 
ride^ shoot^ and throw the javelin well^ and fight in fact just 

to say Dulaiuier seemB to accept the traveUer's statement of the nutmeg 
being the fruit of the clove tree (Joum. A«iat., eer. iy, torn, ix^ p. 248 ; 
Latten, iv, 890). The notion that the clove was the flower of the nut- 
meg appears also to have prevailed in Europe, for it is contradicted in a 
work of the sixteenth century (Boda, Comment, in Theophrastwn, p. 992). 
Mandeville says in this case simply and correctly : " Enow well that the 
nutmeg bears the maces, for right as the hazel hath a husk in which the 
nut is inclosed tiU it be ripe, so it is of the nutmeg and the maces" (p. 233). 

What our author says however about the clove imported into the west 
consisting of the wood or branches is curious. A marg^al note on the 
MS. translated by Lee observes : " This is perhaps what physicians call 
Kirfat-uUKarat^ful or bark of clove." However that may be, no doubt it 
was the same as the FusH di Oherofani of Pegolotti and Uzzano (see 
note, tupra, p. 306.) The term flower of clove cited in the text is also 
used by those writers. 

I may note here that the DieHon. de Trevoux, under the words Noite 
Q\Tofl4e or No%» de lUadagaeear, describes a nut of that island as Nux 
CaryophyUaeea ; ** La seconde 4corce de cet arbre ^tant sech6e ressemble 
en figure "k bk canelle, mais elle a le gout du girofle : on Fappelle Cof-Mlle 
Qirofl^e** I have not met with any recent description of this which 
would appear to be the Kirfat-ul'KaTa'nJul just mentioned. 

^ Polo mentions the practice of towing the large Chinese ships by their 
row-boats (iii, 1). 



474 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHINA, 

like the men. We cast anchor in one of their ports which is 
called Kailvkabi. It is also one of their greatest and finest 
cities, and the king's son used to reside there. When we 
had entered the harbour soldiers came down to the beach, and 
the skipper landed to speak with them. He took a present 
with hinf for the king's son ; but he was told that the king 
had assigned him the gfovemment of another province, and 
had set over this city his daughter, called Urduji. 

The second daj after our arrival in the port of Kailukari, 
this princess invited the Ndkhodah or skipper, the Kardni 
or purser,^ the merchants and persons of note, the Tindail or 
chief of the sailors,' the Sipahsaldr or chief of the archers, to 
partake of a banquet which Urduja had provided for them 
according to her hospitable custom. The skipper asked me 
to accompany them, but I declined, for these people are 
infidels and it is unlawful to partake of their food. So when 
the guests arrived at the Princess's she said to them, '^ Is 
there anyone of your party missing ?" The captain replied, 
" There is but one man absent, the Bakshi^ (or Divine), who 

> This word Kardni, says Bulaurier, which Ibn Batata translates by 
Kdtib or clerk, is probably Persian, bat of Mongol origin. The word is 
still in universal Anglo-Indian ase, at least in the Bengal Presidency, as 
applied to writers in pablic offices, and especially to men of half-blood, 
for whom it has become almost a generic title ; (vulgo Cranny). 

» " Tindail or chief of the Bajdi," which Defrtoeiy renders "foot- 
soldiers," bat I have ventured to follow Dalaurier in rendering it chief 
of the "sailors," both because this seems to be demanded by the context, 
and because the word Tindail is still in use in India, with usual (though 
not universal) application to a petty officer of native seamen. 

s Defr^mery translates Bakahi " le Juge," taking Kcuti as the explana- 
tion g^ven by Ibn Batuta. But the alternative reading FaJciak (Theolo- 
gian) appears to be more probable. The word Bakshi is the Turkish and 
Persian corruption of Bhikahu, the proper Sanscrit term for a Buddhist 
monk ; many of which class came to Persia with Hulagu and his earlier 
successors, whence the word came to be applied generally as meaning a 
literaius, a scribe, a secretary, and even according to Baber a surgeon. 
According to Bumes in modem Bokhara it indicates a hard. Under the 
Mahomedan sovereigns of India it came to mean an officer who had 
charge of registering all that concerned the troops, the assignation of 
quarters, etc. And hence probably has arisen by a gradual transfer its 



AND THE INBIAK ARCHIPELAGO. 475 

« 

does not eat of yonr dishes/' Urdoja rejoined "Let him be 
sent for/' So a party of her guards came for me^ and with 
them some of the captain's people^ who said to me "Dd as 
the Princess desires." 

So I went^ and found her seated on her great ciiair or 
throne, whilst some of her women were in front of her with 
papers which they were laying before her. Bound about 
were elderly ladies, or duennas, who acted as her counsellors, 
seated below the throne on chairs of sandalwood. The men 
also were in front of the Princess. The throne was cohered 
with silk, and canopied with silk curtains, being itself made 
of sandal wood and plated with gold. In the audience hall there 
were buffets of carved wood, on which were set forth many 
vessels of gold of all sizes, vases, pitchers, and flagons. The 
skipper told me that these vessels were filled with a drink 
compounded with sugar and spice, which these people use 
after dinner ; he said it had an aromatic odom* and delicious 
flavour ; that it produced hilarity, sweetened the breath, pro- 
moted digestion, etc., etc. 

As soon as I had saluted the princess she said to me in the 
Turkish tongue Husn misen yakhshi misen (Khuah misan ? 
Takhshi miscm ?) which is as much as to say. Are you well ? 
How do you do ?^ and made me sit down beside her. This 
princess could write the Arabic character well. She said to 
one of her servants Dawdt wa batak katur, that is to say. 

Bring inkstand and paper." He brought these, and then 



t< 



present meaning in the native army of India, vis.. Paymaster (Quo^'e- 
m^^g Boihiduddin, p. 1S4-198; see also tupra, p. 149). Qoatrem^re 
points oat the oocnrrenoe of the term in the Byzantine historian Paohy- 
meres under the form Mva|a. Ibn Batata may have resamed the reli- 
gioQB coetame which he wore before his appointment to the embassy — 
indeed he appears to have worn the mantle given him by the hermit 
Jalaloddin, — and his sanctimonious ezcase from dining with the princess 
made the application of the term natoraL 

^ Ibn Batuta had picked np these words on a former occasion when ad- 
dressed to him by Alaaddin Tarmashlrfn, Khan of Chagatai ; but he 
then says they mean " Are you well f You are an excellent man!" (iii, 83.) 



476 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHINA, 

the princess wrote Biemillah Arrahmdn Arrahim (In the 
name of God the merciful and compassionate I) saying to me 
"What's this?'* I replied 'Tcwwari ruim'^ (Tangri nam)^ 
which is as much as to say "the name of God ;'* whereupon 
she rejoined " Khtishn" or " It is well." She then asked 
from what country I had come, and I told her that I came 
from India. The princess asked again, "From the Pepper 
country?" I said "Yes." She proceeded to put many ques- 
tions to me about India and its vicissitudes, and these I 
answered. She then went on, " I must positively go to war 
with that coimtry and get possession of it, for its great wealth 
and great forces attract me." Quoth I, " You had better do 
so." Then the princess made me a present consisting of 
dresses, two elephant-loads of rice, two she buffikloes, ten 
sheep, four rothls of cordial syrup,^ and four Martabans, or 
stout jars,^ filled with ginger, pepper, citron and mango, all 
prepared with salt as for a sea voyage. 

The skipper told me that Urduja had in her army free 
women, slave girls, and female captives, who fought just like 
men ; that she was in the habit of making incursions into 
the territories of her enemies, taking part in battle, and en- 
gaging in combat vrith warriors of repute. He also told me 

1 Jaldh. 

' The word Martaban iB nnfamiliar to Dnlaurier, who quotes from 
Father Az&r a Maronite, that it means "a casket or vase for keeping 
medicines and comfits, etc." But the word is obvioosly used for the 
great vessels of glazed pottezy, called Pega or Martaban jars from the 
places where they were purchased, and which retained a wide renown up 
to the present century. " They make in this place" (Martaban), says 
Barbosa, " quantities of great porcelain jars, very big, strong, and 
handsome; there are some of them that will hold two hogsheads of 
water a piece. They are coated with a black glase, are in great esteem 
among the Moors, bearing a high price among them, and th^ export 
them from this place with a great deal of benzoin" {Livro de Duarte 
BarhoBO, p. 867). Linschoten speaks to the same effect, adding that they 
were used on the Portuguese Indiamen for storing oil and water. So also 
Jarric: "Vas figlina qu89 Tulgo Mariabania dicuntur per Indiam nota 

sunt Per orientem omnem, quin et Lusitaniam horum est usus" 

(Litiach., c. xvii; Jar., iii, pt. ii, p. 3ii9). « 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPELAGO. 477 

that on one occasion an obstinate battle took place between 
this princess and one of her enemies ; a great number of her 
soldiers had been slain^ and her whole force was on the point 
of running away^ when XJrdtija rushed to the fronts and 
forcing her way through the ranks of the combatants till she 
got at the king himself with whom she was at war^ she dealt 
him a mortal wound^ so that he died^ and his troops fled. 
The princess returned with his head carried on a spear^ and 
the king's family paid a vast sum to redeem it. And when 
the princess rejoined her father he gave her this city of 
Kailukari^ which her brother had previously governed. I 
heard likewise from the same skipper that various sons of 
kings had sought IJrduja's hand^ but she always answered^ 
''I will marry no one but him who shall fight and conquer 
me V' so they all avoided the trial, for fear of the shame of 
being beaten by her.^ 

' We quitted the country of Taw&lisi, and after a voyage of 
seventeen days, during which the wind was always favour- 
able, we arrived in China. 

This is a vast country ; and it abounds in all sorts of good 
things, fruit, com, gold and silver ; no other country in the 
world can rival China in that respect. It is traversed by the 
river which is called Ab-i-Haiyah, signifying the Water of 
Life. It is also called the river Sabu, just like the Indian 
river. It source is among the mountains near the city of 
Khanbalik, which are known by the name of Kuh-i-Buznah 
or Monkey Mountains. This river runs through the heart of 
China, for a distance of six months' journey, reaching at last 
S(n-ul-Sin.^ It is bordered throi^hout with villages, culti- 

> On TauxUUi, see Note G at the end of the Narrative. 

* See remarks on Ibn Batata's notion of the great Biver of China in 
the introdnctory notices. SaHi is no douht, as exphiined by Defr^meiy, 
intended for the Mongol word SdrUk or 8dri yellow, a translation of the 
Chinese Hwang-Ho, whilst the Indian Biver is that of which he has 
spoken in previous passages of his book (c. ii and iii, 487) as the SaHir 
or Sarii, vis., the Sa^a, Sarya, or Gogra. 



478 TRAVELS OF IBS BATOTA IN BEKQAL, CHIKA. 

vated plainB, orchards^ and markets, just like ihe Nile in 
Egypt ; but this countiy is still more flonrishing, and there 
are on the banks a great number of hydraulic wheels. Tou 
find in China a great deal of sngar as good as that of Egypt, 
better in fact ; you find also grapes and plums. I used to 
think that the plum called Othmani, which you get at 
Damascus, was peerless ; but I found how wrong I was when 
I became acquainted with the plum of China. In this 
country there is also an excellent water-melon which is like 
that q{ Khw&rezm and Ispahan. In short all our fruits have 
their match in China, or rather they are excelled. There is 
also great store of wheat, and I never anywhere saw it finer 
or better. One may say jnst the same of the peas and 
beans. 

Porcelain is made in China nowhere except in the cities of 
Zaitun and Sik-Kalan. It is made by means of a certain 
earth got from the mountains of those provinces, which takes 
fire Uke charcoal as we shall relate hereafter. The potters 
add a certain stone which is found in that country ; they 
bum it for three days, and then pour water on it, so that the 
whole falls to powder, and this they cause to ferment. That 
which has been in fermentation for a whole month, neither 
more nor less, gives the best porcelain ; that which has not 
fermented for more than ten days gives one of inferior 
quality. Porcelain in China is of about the same value as 
earthenware with us, or even less. ^Tis exported to India 
and elsewhere, passing from country to country till it reaches 
us in Morocco. ^Tis certainly the finest of all pottery-ware,^ 

> Marco Polo also mentions the porcelain manafactore in connexion 
with his account of Zayton, as being found at Timing^y (according to 
Pauthier's edition Tyunguy), a city in the neighbourhood. This Pauthier 
supposes to be Tek-hiia, a town about sixty nules north of Thsiuan-cheu or 
Zayton, where^ according to the Imperial geography, vases of white china 
were anciently manufactured, which enjoyed a great reputation. (Marc 
Pol, p. 532). 

The china-ware of Fokien and Canton is now of a yeiy ordinary de- 
scription, the manufacture of real porcelain being confined to Eingte- 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPB£AOO. 479 

The cocks and hens of China are very big, bigger in fact 
than oar geese. The hen's egg also there is bigger than our 
goose eggs ; whilst their goose on the other hand is a very 
smaU one. I one day bought a hen which I wanted to boil^ 
but one pot would not hold it^ and I was obliged to take 
two ! As for the cocks in China they are as big as ostriches I 
Sometimes one sheds his feathers and then the great red 
object is a sight to see 1 The first time in my life that I saw 
a China cock was in the city of Kaulam. I had at first taken 
it for an ostrich^ and I was looking at it with great wonder^ 
when the owner said to me, ''Pooh I there are cocks in China 
much bigger than that I '^ and when I got there I found he 
had said no more than the truth. 

The Chinese are infidels and idolaters, and they bum their 
dead after the manner of Hindus.^ Their king is a Tartar of 
the family of Tankiz Khan.^ In each of their cities a special 
quarter is assigned to the Mahomedans, where these latter 
dwell by themselves, and have their mosques for prayer, and 
for Friday and other services. They are treated with considera- 
tion and respect. The flesh of swine and dogs is eaten by 
the Chinese pagans, and it is sold publicly in their markets. 
They are generally well-to-do opulent people, but they are 
not sufficiently particular either in dress or diet. You will 
see one of their great merchants, the owner of uncountable 
treasnre> going about in a dirty cotton frock.^ The Chinese 
taste is entirely for the accumulation of gold and silver plate. 

chin in the prorince of Kiangsi. I have no account of the manufacttire, 
such as enables me to trace the basis of anything here related by Ibn 
Batata, bat it looks like crude gossip ; as if he had heard of the porcelain 
day of China, and of the Coal of China, and had, like one of Dickens's 
iUastrioas characters, "combined the information." 

1 This has already been noticed at p. 247. Though no longer the prac- 
tise, we see by Marco Polo and other authors that it was formerly yeiy 
general in some parts of China. 

' So Ibn Batata always calls Chinghiz ; I know not why. 

* " The great sin of the Chinese costume is the paucity of white linen 
and consequently of washing" (Davis* 8 Chinese). 



480 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IK BENGAL^ CHINA, 

They all carry a stick witli an iron fenile, on which they lean 
in walking, and this they call their third leg. 

Silk is very plentiful in China, for the worms which pro- 
duce it attach themselves to certain fruits on which they feed, 
and require little attention. This is how they come to have 
silk in such abundance that it is used for clothing even by 
poor monks and beggars. Indeed, but for the demand among 
merchants, silk would there have no value at all. Among the 
Chinese one cotton dress is worth two or three of silk. 

They have a custom among them for every merchant to 
cast into ingots all the gold and silver that he possesses, each 
of these ingots weighing a hundredweight, more or less, and 
these he places over the gate of his house. The man who 
has accumulated five such ingots puts a ring on his finger ; he 
who has ten puts two rings ; he who has fifteen is called Satt, 
which amounts to the same thing as Kwrami in Egypt. An 
ingot is in China called Barhdlah,^ 

The people of China do not use either gold or silver coin 
in their commercial dealings. The whole amount of those 
metals that reaches the country is cast into ingots as I have 
just said. Their buying and selling is carried on by means 
of pieces of paper about as big as the palm of the hand, car- 
rying the mark or seal of the Emperor. Twenty -five of these 
bills are called bdlisht, which is as much as to say with us 

* Per 8. "PKeg&iBh., frustum, aegmentum (Meninski). S<xH, again* is prob- 
ably the Indian word Set, or Cheti as it is caUed by some old ti^veUers. 
The Karami merchants weiB a sort of guild or corporation in Egypt, who 
appear to have been chiefly occupied in the spice trade. Qoatrem^e 
gives many quotations mentioning them, but without throwing much 
light on the subject (see Not. et Ewtraitt, xii, 689, and liv, 214). It is a 
common story in India, of rich Hindu bankers and the like, that they 
build gold bricks into the walls of their houses. 

The MasalcLk-al Ahadr relates that in some of the Indian islands there 
are men who, when they have succeeded in filling one pot with gold, put 
a flag on their house-top, and another flag for each succeeding potful. 
Sometimes, it is said, as many as ten of these flags are seen on one roof. 
And in Bussia, according to Ibn Fozlan, when a man possessed 10,000 
dirhems, his wife wore one gold chain, two gold chains for 20,000 dirhems, 
and so on (Not. et Ewtraits, xiii, p. 219 ; Ibn Fozlan by Fraehn, p. 5). 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPELAGO. 4^1 

"a dinar /^^ When anyone finds that notes of this kind in his 
possession are worn or torn he takes them to a certain public 
office analogous to the Mint in our country^ and there he gets 
new notes for his old ones. He incurs no expense whatever 
in doing this^ for the people who have the making of these 

' I do not anderstand the text to mean that a halisht is precisely worth 
a dinar, bat that it is the unit in which same are reckoned by the 
Chinese as the dinar is with the Mahomedans. Paper money has been 
spoken of at pp. 287-89, and at p. 116 some speculations were ventured 
on the origin of the term Balisht or Balish, I have since been led to 
believe that it must be a cormption of the Latin /oUif. 

The common meaning of that word is a hellowa ; but it was used also 
by late classical writers for a leather money-bag, and afterwards (in some 
sense) for money itself, "just as to this day the Italians apply the term 
purge to a certain sum of money among the Turks" (Facciolati, Lipsiee, 
1839). Further, the term follia was also applied to a certain " pul villus, 
sedentibus subjectus, qui non tomento aut plum& inferciebatur, sed vento 
inflabatur," or, in short, to an air-cushion. 

Now we have seen (p. 116) that Balish was also applied to a kind of 
cushion, as well as to a sum of money, such as in later days the Turks 
called a purse. This double analogy would be curious enough as a coin- 
cidence, even if we could find no clearer trace of connexion between the 
terms'; but there seems ground for tracing such a connexion. 

Follit was applied to money in two ways under the Byzantine Emperors. 

In its commoner application (^({\Ats, p6K\ii, etc.) it was a copper coin, 
of which 288 went to the gold solidus ; and in this sense probably had 
no connection with the original Latin word. But follis was* also used 
as a term for a certain quantity of gold, according to one authority the 
weight of 250 denarii, and was especially applied to a sort of tax im- 
posed on the magnates by Constantino, which varied from two to eight 
pounds of gold, according to rank and income (see Ditcange, Be Irtferioris 
Aevi NumismatiJbus, in Didot's ed. of the Diet., vii, pp. 194-5.) 

If the denarii mentioned here were gold denarii or solidi, then we have 
the Byzantine Folli8=250 miifcJl<iZ«, just as the Balish of the Turks and 
Tartars in later days was^500 mitKk&ls. The probability that the latter 
word is as directly the representative of the former as Dinar and Dirhtfm 
are of the (gold) Denarius and Drachma seems very strong, and probably 
would not derive any additional support from the cushions with which 
both words have been connected. 

FoUia, again, in the sense of a copper coin, appears to be the same 
word as the Ar.fals, spoken of at pp. 115-116, found also formerly in 
Spain as the name of a small coin foluz. And follis also in this sense, 
tlirough the forms Follaris and FoUeralis which are given in Ducangc, is 
the origin of the /oUtfri of Pegolotti (supra, p. 296). 

31 



482 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHINA^ 

notes are paid by the emperor.' The direction of the said 
public ofiSce is entrusted to one of the first amirs in China. 
If a person goes to the market to buy anything with a piece 
of silver, or even a piece of gold, they won't take it ; nor 
will they pay any attention to him whatever until he has 
changed his money for halisht ; and then he can buy what- 
ever he likes. 

All the inhabitants of China and Cathay in place of char- 
coal make use of a kind of earth which has the consistence 
and colour of clay in our country. It is transported on 
elephants, and cut into pieces of the ordinary size of lumps 
of charcoal with us, and these they bum. This earth bums 
just like charcoal, and gives even a more powerful heat. 
When it is reduced to cinders they knead these up into 
lumps with water, and when dry they serve to cook with a 
second time. And so they go on till the stuff is entirely 
consumed. It is with this earth that the Chinese make their 
porcelain vases, combining a certain stone with it, as I have 
already related.^ 

The people of China of all mankind have the greatest skill 
andlaste in the arts. This is a fact generally admitted; it 
has been' remarked in books by many authors, and has been 
much dwelt upon.' As regards painting, indeed, no nation, 
whether of Christians or others, can come up to the Chinese ; 
their talent for this art is something quite extraordinary. I 
may mention among astonishing illustrations of this talent 
of theirs, what I have witnessed myself, viz., that whenever 
I have happened to visit one of their cities, and to return to 
it after awhile, I have always found my own likeness and 

1 See a different account at p. 246 tupra, and in M. Polo, i, 26. 

3 The coal of China is noticed by Marco Polo (i, 31), and by BaBhid 
{supra p. 261). According to Pauthier, its use was known before the 
Christian era. 

3 Already in the 10th century, it was remarked by an Arab author : 
" The Chinese may be counted among those of Ood's creatures to whom 
He hath granted, in the highest degree, skill of hand in drawing and 
the arts of manufacture" (Beinaud, Belation, etc., i, 77) 



Mrf. 



AND THX I>IDIAN ASCHlPEIAGO. 483 

those of my companions painted on the walls^ or exhibited 
in the bazars. On one occasion that I visited the Emperor's 
own city, in going to the imperial palace with my comrades 
I passed through, the bazar of the painters ; we were all 
dressed after the fashion of Irdk. In the evening on leaving 
the palace I passed again through the same bazar, and there 
I saw my own portrait and the portraits of my companions 
painted on sheets of paper and exposed on the walls. We 
all stopped to examine the likenesses)" and everybody found 
that of his neighbour to be excellent ! 

I was told that the Emperor had ordered the painters to 
take our likenesses, and that they had come to the palace for 
the purpose whilst we were there. They studied us and 
painted us without our knowing anything of the matter. In 
fact it is an established custom among the Chinese to take 
the portrait of any stranger that visits their countiy. • In- 
deed the thing is carried so far that, if by chance a foreigner 
commits any action that obliges him to fly from China, they 
send his portrait into the outlying provinces to assist the 
search for him, and wherever the original of the portrait is 
discovered they apprehend him.* f 

. Whenever a Chinese junk is about to undertake a voyage, 
it is the custom for the admiral of the port and his secretaries 
to go on board, and to take note of the number of soldiers, 
servants, and sailors who are embarked. The ship is not 
allowed to sail till this form has been complied with. And 

> A traTelling Jew, whom Wood met on his Oxns journey, told him 
that before strangers are permitted to enter Yarkand, " each individnal 
10 strictly examined ; their personal appearance is noted down in writing, 
and if any are suspected, an artist is at hand to take their portraits" (p. 
2S1). This is one of the many cases in which the Chinese have antici- 
pated the devices of modem European civilisation. Just as this was 
written, I read in the Times of the arrest at New York of the mnrderer 
Miiller by the police provided with his photograph despatched firom 
England. 
"^ I here omit a not very relevant inter|)olation by Ibn Juzai, the Moor- 
' ish editor. 



484 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHINA^ 

when the jnnk returns to China the same officials again visit 
her, and compare the persons found on board with the num- 
bers entered in their register. If anyone is missing the 
captain is responsiblOj and must furnish evidence of the death 
or desertion of the missing individual^ or otherwise account 
for him. If he cannot^ he is arrested and punished; 

The captain is then obliged to give a detailed report of all 
the items of the junk's cargo, be their value great or small. 
Everybody then goes ashore, and the custom-house officers 
commence an inspection of what everybody has. If they find 
anything that has been kept back from their knowledge, the 
junk and all its cargo is forfeited.^ This is a kind of oppres- 
sion that I have .seen in no country, infidel or Musulman, 
except in China. There wa^j indeed, something analogous 
to it in India ; for there, if a man was found with anything 
smuggled he was condemned to pay eleven times the amount 
of the diity. The Sultan Mahomed abolished this tyrannical 
rule when he did away with the duties upon merchandise. 

When a Musulman trader arrives in a Chinese city, he is 
allowed to choose whether he will take up his quarters with 
one of the merchants of his own faith settled in the country, 
or will go to an inn.^ If he prefers to lodge with a merchant, 
they count all his money and confide it to the merchant of 
his choice ; the latter then takes charge of all expenditure 
on account of the stranger's wants, but acts with perfect in- 
tegrity. When the guest wishes to depart his money is 
again counted, and the host is obliged to make good any 
deficiencies. 

If, however, the foreign trader prefers to go to an inn, bis 
money is made over in deposit to the landlord, who then 
buys on his account whatever he may require, and if he 
wishes it procures a slave girl for him. He then establishes 
him in an apartment opening on the court of the inn, and 

1 Tliis is no doubt the practice referred to by Odoric, supra, p. 74. 
' The word is Fanduk. See note on Fondacum, supra, p. 355. 



AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 485 

undertakes the provision of necessaries for both man and 
woman. I may observe here by the way that young slave 
girls are very cheap in China ; and, indeed, all the Chinese 
will sell their sons as slaves equally with their daughters, nor 
is it considered any disgrace to do so. Only, those who are 
so purchased cannot be forced against their will to go abroad 
with the purchaser ; neither, however, are they hindered if 
they choose to do so. And if the foreign trader wishes to 
marry in China he can very easily do so. But as for spend- 
ing his money in profligate courses that he cannot be allowed 
to do ! For the Chinese say : ''We will not have it said in 
the Musulman countries that their people are stript of their 
property in China, and that ours is a country full of riotous 
living (and fiarlotryJ' 

China is the safest as well as the pleasantest of all the 
reg^QUS on the earth for a traveller. You may travel the 
whole nine months' journey to which the empire extends 
without the slightest cause for fear, ^ven if you have treasure 
in your charge. For at every halting place there is a 
hostelry superintended by an officer who is posted there with 
a detachment of horse and foot. Every evening after sunset, 
or rather at nightfall, this officer visits the inn accompanied 
by his clerk ; he takes down the name of every stranger who 
is going to pass the night there, seals the list, and then closes 
the inn door upon them. In the morning he comes again 
with his clerk, calls everybody by name, and marks them off 
one by one. He then despatches along with the travellers a 
perison whose duty it is to escort them to the next station, 
and to bring back from the officer in charge there a written 
acknowledgment of the arrival of all ; otherwise this person 
is held answerable. This is the practice at all the stations in 
China from Sin-ul-Sm to Kh&nb&lik. In the inns the 
traveller finds all needftil supplies, especially fowls and geese. 
But mutton is rare. 

To return, however, to the particulars of my voyage, I 



/ 



486 TRAVELS OP IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL, CHINA, 

mast tell you that the first Chinese city that I reached after 
crossing the sea was Zaitun.^ Although Zaitun signifies olives 
in Arabic, there are no olives here any more than elsewhere 
in India and China ; only that is the name of the place. It 
is a great city, superb indeed, and in it they make damasks 
of velvet as well as those of satin, which are called from the 
name of the city Zaituniah ;* they are superior to the stufis 
of Khansd and E[h&nbdlik. The harbour of Zaitun is one of 
the greatest in the world, — I am wrong : it is tits greatest ! 
I have seen there about one hundred first-class junks to- 
gether; as for small ones they were past counting. The 
harbour is formed by a great estuary which runs inland from 
the sea until it joins the Great River. 

In this, as in every other city of China, every inhabitant 
has a garden, a field, and his house in the middle of it, 
exactly as we have it in the city of Segelmessa. It is for 

1 Were there doubt as to the identity of Zayton, Abulfeda's notice 
would settle it. For he tells us expressly that Zayton is otherwise called 
Shanju (Chin-cheu, the name by which Thsiuan-cheu wsfi known to the 
early Portugruese traders, and by which it still appears in many maps). 

' The words translated after Defr^meiy as velvet and aatin axe kimkhwA 
and aiaXas. There may be some doubt whether the former word should 
be rendered velvet, as it is the original of the European eammocca and the 
Indian hinkhwdb, of which the former seems to Jiave been a damasked silk, 
and the latter is a silk damasked in gold (see p. 295 supra). The word 
At alas seems to correspond closely to the Italian raso, as it signifies both 
a close-shaven face and a satin texture. It has been domesticated in Ger- 
many as the word for satin (AtUiss), and is used also in old English travels. 
I have a strong siispicion that the term Zaituniah in the text is the origin 
of our word satin. The possible derivation from seta is obvious. But 
among the textures of the 16th century named in the book of G. XTzsano 
(supra p. 281) we find repeated mention of Zetani, Zettani veilut(Ui, Zettani 
hroccati tra oro, etc., which looks very like the transition from Zaiiuni to 
satin, whilst the ordinary word for silk is by the same author always spelt 
seta. The analogous derivation of so many other names of textures from 
the places whence they were imported may be quoted in support of this, 
e.g.. Muslin (Mosul), Damask (Damascus), Cambric (Cambray), Arras 
Diaper (d* Yprfes), Calico (Calicut) ; whilst we know that Genoese merchants 
traded at Zayton (supra-p. 224). I see that F. Johnson's Diet, distinguishes 
in Persian between "Kamkhd, Damask silk of one coloiur", and "Kimkhd, 
Damask silk of different colours**. 



AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 487 

this reason that the cities of the Chinese are so extensive. 
The Mahomedans hare a city by themselveq. 

The day after my arrival at Zaitun I saw there the noble- 
man who had been in India as ambassador with the presents 
for the Saltan, who had set out (from Dehli) in company with 
me, and whose junk had been wrecked. He saluted me, and 
gave information about me to the chief of the council, who in 
consequence assigned me quarters in a fine house. I then had 
visits from the Kazi of the Mahomedans, T&juddin of Ardebil, 
a virtuous and generous person ; from the Shaikh of Islam, 
Kam&Iuddfn Abdallah of Ispahan, a very pious man; and from 
the chief merchants of the place. Among these I will mention 
only Sharifuddf n of Tabriz, one of the merchants to whom I 
ran in debt from my first arrival in India, and the one of my 
creditors who acted most like a gentleman; he knew the 
whole Koran by heart, and was a great reader. As these 
merchants are settled there in a land of unbelievers, of course 
they are greatly delighted when they see a Musulman come 
to visit them, and when they can say, "Ah, here comes one 
from the lands of Islam V* and they give him alms of all that 
they have, according to the law, so that the traveller becomes 
quite rich like one of themselves. Among the eminent 
shaikhs at Zaitun was Burhanuddin of Kazerdn, who had a 
hermitage outside of the town. It was to him that the mer- 
chants used to pay their ofierings for the Shaikh Abu Ishak 
of Kazerun.1 

When the chief of the council had learned all particulars 
about me, ho wrote to the K&n, i.e. the Emperor, to inform 
him that I had arrived from the King of India. And I 
begged the chief that whilst we were awaiting the answer 
he would send some one to conduct me to Sin-ul-Sin, which 
these people call Sin-Kal&n, which is also under the Kdn, as 
I was desirous to visit that part of the country. He con- 

1 Kazerun, onoe a conBiderable place, now in decay, lies in a valley 
on the road from Bashire to Sbiraz. 



488 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL, CHINA, 

sented, and sent one of his people to accompany me. I 
travelled on the river in a vessel, which was much like the 
war galleys in our country, excepting that the sailors rowed 
standing and all together amidships, whilst the passengers 
kept forward and aft. For shade they spread an awning 
made of a plant of the country resembling flax, but not flax ; 
it was, however, finer than hemp.^ 

We travelled on the river for twenty-seven days.* Every 
day a little before noon we used to moor at some village, 
where we bought what was needful, and performed our mid- 
day prayers. 

In the evening we stopped at another village, and so on 
until we arrived at Sinkalan, which is the city of Sin-ul-Sin. 
Porcelain is made there, just as at Zaitun, and it is there also 
that the river called Ab-i-Haiydh (or water-of-life) discharges 
itself into the sea, at a place which they call the confluence 
of the seas. Sin-ul-Sin is one of the greatest of cities, and 
one of those that has the finest of bazars. One of the largest 
of these is the porcelain bazar, and from it china-ware is ex- 
ported to the other cities of China, to India, and to Yemen. 

In the middle of the city you see a superb temple with 
nine gates ; inside of each there is a portico with terraces 
where the inmates of the building seat themselves. Between 
the second and third gates there is a place with rooms for 
occupation by the blind, the infirm or the crippled. These 

1 Perhaps g^rass-cloth. 

' It is very possible that there may be continuous inland navigation 
from Zayton to Canton, parallel to the coast, but I cannot ascertain more 
than that there is such from Fucheu, and I presume from Thsiuan-cheu 
or Zayton to Chang-cheu. If this does not extend further, his journey 
" by the river " must have been up the Min river ; then, after crossing the 
mountains into Eiangsi, re-embarking and following the Kankiang up to 
the Meiling Pass, and so across that to the Pe-Kiang, leading to Canton; 
the latter part of the route being that followed by Macartney and 
Amherst on their return journies, as weU as by the authors of many 
other published narratives. 

On Sinkalan or Sin-ul-Sin and its identity with Canton, see supra, pp. 
105, 269, 373, and 417. 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPELAGO. ' 489 

receive food and clothing from picas foundations attached to 
the temple. Between the other gates there are similar es- 
tablishments ; there is to be seen (for instance) a hospital 
for the sick, a kitchen for dressing their food, quarters for 
the physicians, and others for the servants. I was assured 
that old folks who had not strength to work for a livelihood 
were maintained and clothed there ; and that a like provision 
was made for destitute widows and orphans. This temple 
was built by a King of China, who bequeathed this city and 
the villages 'and gardens attached, as a pious endowment for 
this establishment. His portrait is to be seen in the temple, 
and the Chinese go and worship it.^ 

In one of the quarters of this great city is the city of the 
Mahomedans, where they have their cathedral mosque, con- 
vent, and bazar ; they have also a Kazi and a Shaikh, for in 
each of the cities of China you find always a Shaikh of Islam, 
who decides finally every matter concerning Mahomedans, as 
well as a Kazi to administer justice. I took up my quarters 
with Auhaduddin of Sinjdr, one of the worthiest, as he is one 
of the richest, of men. My stay with him lasted fourteen 
days, during which presents from the kazi and the other 
Mahomedans flowed in upon me incessantly. Every day they 
used to have a fresh entertainment, to which they went in 
pretty little boats of some ten cubits in length, with people 
on board to sing. 

Beyond this city of Sin-ul-Sin there are no other cities, 
whether of infidels or Musulmans. Between it and the 

1 Canton has undergone many changes, and no temple now appears to 
correspond precisely with that described. It was however perhaps that 
ctdiedKvcang-heaoU'dte (Temple of Gloiy and Filial Duty), near what is now 
the N.W. comer of the city. It was bmlt about a.d. 250, and has been often 
restored. It possesses about 8,500 acres of land for the support of its 
inmates. There is a retreat for poor aged infirm and blind people called 
Yangtsequen, which stands outside the walls east of the city, but neither 
this nor the other charitable institutions appear to be of old date, nor do 
there seem to be any such now attached to the temples (see Chinese Be^ 
petitory, vol. ii, p. 145 teq,). 



490 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL, CHINA, 

Rampart, or Great Wall of Gog and Magog, there is a space 
of sixty clays' journey as I was told. This territory is occu- 
pied by wandering tribes of heathen, who eat such people as 
they can catch, and for this reason no one enters their country 
or attempts to travel there. I saw nobody in this city who 
had been to the Great Wall, or who knew anybody who had 
been there.* 

DurincT my stay at Sinkalan I heard that there was at that 
ei^ . A 4ed Llh. We«. «... he h.d p«»a hi, ..« 
hundredth year f that he had neither ate nor drank nor had 
anything to say to women, although his vigour was intact ; 
and that he dwelt in a cave outside the town, where he gave 
himself up to devotion. So I went to his grotto, and there 
I saw him at the door. He was very thin ; of a deep red or 
copper-tint, much marked with the traces of an ascetic life, 
and had no beard. After I had saluted him he took my hand, 

1 This is an instance of Dm Batnta's loose notions of geography. He 
inqnires for the Wall of China from his coreligionists at the wrong extre- 
mity of the empire, as if (on a smaller scale) a foreigner should ask the 
French Constd at Cork for particulars of the Wall of Antoninus. Had 
he inquired at Khanbalik (if he really was there) he might have re- 
ceived more information. 

The Bampart of Gog and Magog (Tdjuj and MdjUi) was believed to 
have been erected by Alexander the Oreat to shut up the fierce nations 
of the north and bar their irruptions into civilized southern lands. It is 
generally referred to Darband on the Caspian, but naturally came to be 
confounded with the Wall of China. Edrisi (ii, 416) gives an account of 
the mission sent by the Khalif Wathek Billah to explore the Bampart of 
Gk>g and Magog. See the Reduction of the Catalan Map, N.E. oomer. 

' Supernatural longevity is a common attribute of Mahomedan saints. 
Ibn Batuta himself introduces us to several others whose age exceeded 
one hundred and fifty years, besides a certain Atha Awalia in the Hindu 
Kush who claimed three hundred and fifty years, but regarding whom 
the traveller had his doubts. Shah Madar, one of the most eminent 
Indian saints, is said to have been bom at Aleppo in 1050-51, and to have 
died at Makanpur near Ferozabad, Agra, where he was buried, in 1433, 
having had 1442 sons, spiritual it may be presumed ! {Oarcin de Tossy, 
Particularitds de la Bel, Mus. dans I'Inde, p. 65). And John Schiltberger 
tells us of a saint at Hore in Horassan (Herat in Khorasan) whom he 
saw there in the days of Timur, whose name was Phiradam Schyech, and 
who was three hundred and fifty years old (Reisen, p. 101). 



ANT) THE IKDIAN ABCHIPELAOO. 491 

blew on it^ and said to the interpreter : ''This man belongs 
to one extremity of the world, as we belong to the other/^ 
Then he said to me : ''Thou hast witnessed a miracle. Dost 
thou call to mind the day of thy visit to the island where 
there was a temple, and the man seated among the idols who 
gave thee ten pieces of gold V "Yes, in sooth,*' answered I. 
He rejoined "I was that man'\^ I kissed his hand; the 
shaikh seemed a while lost in thought, then entered his cave,. 
and did not come back to us. One would have said that he 
regretted the words that he had spoken. We were rash 
enough to enter the grotto in order to surprise him, but we 
did not find him. We saw one of his comrades, however, 
who had in his hand some paper bank-notes, and who said to 
us : " Take this for your entertainment, and begone/' We 
answered : " But we wish to wait for the shaikh/' He an- 
swered : " If you were to wait ten years you would not see 
him. For 'tis his way never to let himself be seen by a 
person who has learned one of his secrets." He added : 
" Think not that he is absent ; he is here present with you !" 
Greatly astonished at all this I departed. On telling my 
story to the Kazi, the Shaikh of Islam and (my host) Au- 
haduddin of Sinjar, they observed : " This is his way with 
strangers who visit him ; nobody ever knows what religion 
he professes. But the man whom you took for one of his 
comrades was the shaikh himself." They then informed 
me that this personage had quitted the country for about 
fifty years and had returned only a year previously. The 
king,* the generals, and other chiefs went to see him, 
and made him presents in proportion to their rank ; whilst 
every day the fakirs and poor monks went to see him, and 
received from him gifts in proportion to the deserts of each, 

' TbiB refers to a mysterious incident that occurred to Ibn Batuta at a 
small island on the western coast of India just before he got to Hunawar 
(see supra, p. 416). 

- I.e, the viceroy. 



492 TRAVELS OF TBN BATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHINA^ 

although his cave contained absolutely nothing. They told 
me also that this personage sometimes related histories of 
past times ; he would speak^ for example^ of the prophet 
(upon whom be peace !), and would say with reference to 
him : '^ K I had but been with him, I would have helped 
him/' He would speak also with veneration of the two 
Khalifs, 'Omar son of Alkhattab and 'Ali son of Abu 
T41ib, and would praise them highly. But, on the other 
hand, he would curse Yazid the son of Mu'&wiyah, and 
would denounce Mu'dwiyah himself.* Many other things 
were told me about this shaikh by the persons named 
above. 

Auhaduddin of Sinjar told me the following story about 
him : ^' I went once (said he) to see the shaikh in his cave. 
He took hold of my hand, and all at once I imagined myself 
to be in a great palace where this shaikh was seated on a 
throne. Methought he had a crown on his head ; on each 
side of him were beautiful handmaidens ; and there were 
canals about into which fruit was constantly dropping. I 
imagined that I took up an apple to eat it, and straightway 
as I did so I found myself again in the grotto with the 
shaikh before me, laughing and ridiculing me. I had a bad 
illness which lasted several months ; and I never would go 
again to see that strange being.''^ 

The people of the country believe the shaikh to be a 
Musulman, but nobody ever saw him say his prayers. As 
regards abstinence from food, again, he may be said to fast 
perpetually. The kazi told me : '' One day I spoke to him 
about prayer, and his answer was : ' Thinkest thou that thou 
knowest, thou ! what J do ? In truth, I trow my prayer is 



1 Omar and All) the Becond and fourth successors of Mahomed. Yazid 
Bin Mu'&wiyah, the second Khalif of the Ommiadee^ who caused the 
death of All on the plain of Eerbela, is always mentioned with a curse 
by the Shias (ITHerhelot). 

^ A capital case of mesmeric influence in the Middle Ages. 



Ai7D THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 493 

another matter from thine I^^' Everything about this man 
was singular.^ 

The day after my visit to the shaikh I set out on my 
return to the city of Zaitun, and some days after my arrival 
there an order was received from the K&n that I was to pro- 
ceed to the capital^ with arrangements for my honourable 
treatment and for defraying my expenses. He lefl; me free 
to go by land or by water as I chose ; so I preferred going 
by the river. 

They fitted up a very nice boat for me, such as is used 
for the transport of generals ; the Amir sent some of his 
suite to accompany me, and furnished provisions in abun- 
dance ; quantities also were sent by the kazi and the Ma- 
homedan merchants. We travelled as the guests of the 
sultan, dining at one village, and supping at another ; and 
after a passage of ten days we arrived at Kanjanfu. This is 
a large and beautiful city surrounded by gardens, in an im- 
mense plain. One would say it was the plain of Damascus 1^ 

On my arrival the kazi, the shaikh of Tslam, and the 
merchants came out to receive me, witj|[|Qags and a band 
of musicians, with drums, trumpets, and horns. They 
brought horses for us, which we mounted, whilst they all 
went on foot before us except the kazi and the shaikh, who 
rode with us. The governor of the city also came out with 
his retinue to meet us, for a guest of the emperor's is highly 
honoured among those people. And so we entered Kan- 

' The holy maai in Egypt, described by Lady Duff (Jordon (supra p, 464), 
" never prays, never washes, he does not keep Kamad&n, and yet he is a 
saint." 

' This Ihave little doubt is Eianchangfu in Kiangsi, to which a water com- 
munication conducts all the way from Fucheu, and probably from Zayton, 
excepting for a space of 190 li (some fifty or sixty miles) in the passage of 
the mountains between Thsungnanghien in Fokien, and Yanchanhien in 
Kiangsi (Klap, Mem, Bel. d VAaie, vol. iii.). Kianchangfu is described by 
Martini as a handsome and celebrated city, with a lake inside the walls 
and another outside. It was noted in his time for the excellence of its 
rice-wine. 



494 TBAVKLS OF IBK BATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHIKA^ 

janM. This city has four walls. Between the first and the 
second wall live the slaves of the sultan^ those who gnard 
the city by day as well as those who guard it by night. 
These last are called baswdndn. Between the second and 
third wall are the cavalry^ and the amir who commands in 
the city. Inside the third wall are the Mahomedans^ so it 
was here that we dismounted at the house of their shaikh, 
Zahir-uddin ul Kurl&ni. The Chinese lived inside the fourth 
waD, which incloses the biggest of the four towns. The 
distance between one gate and the next in this immense 
city of Kanjanfu is three miles and a quarter. Eveiy inha- 
bitant, as we have described before, has his garden and 
fields about his house.^ 

One day when I was in the house of Zahir-uddin ul Kur- 
Mni there arrived a great boat, which was stated to be that 
of one of the most highly respected doctors of the law 
among the Musulmans of those parts. They asked leave to 
introduce this personage to me, and accordingly he was an- 
nounced as '^Our Master Kiw&muddin the Ceutan.'^' I 
was surprised at i]^e name ; and when he had entered, and 
after exchanging the usual salutations we had begun to 
converse together, it struck me that I knew the man. So I 
began to look at him earnestly, and he said, ''You look as if 
you knew me.'' *' Prom what country are you," 1 asked. 
"From Ceuta.'' "And I am from Tangier!" So he 
recommenced his salutations, moved to tears at the meeting, 
till I caught the infection myself. I then asked him " Have 
you ever been in India ? " " Yes," he said ; "1 have been 
at Dehli, the capital." When he said that I recoUected 
about him, and said, " Surely you are Ul-Bushri ? " " Yes, 
I am." He had come to Dehli with his maternal uncle, 
Abii'l K&sim, of Murcia, being then quite young and beard- 
less, but an acomplished student, knowing the Muwatfah 

> This must at all times have been a great exaggeration. 
2 "Ul-SabtiV 



AND THK DTDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 495 

by heart.^ I had told the Sultan of India about him^ and 
he had given him 3^000 dinars^ and desired to keep him at 
Dehli. He refused to stay, however, for he was bent on 
going to China, and in that country he had acquired much 
reputation and a great deal of wealth. He told me that he had 
some fifty male slaves, and as many female : and indeed he 
gave me two of each, with many other presents. Some 
years later I met this man's brother in Negroland. What 
an enormous distance lay between those two !^ 

I stayed fifteen days at Kanjanfu, and then continued my 
journey. China is a beautiful country, but it afibrded me no 
pleasure. On the contrary, my spirit was sorely troubled 
within me whilst I was there, to see how Paganism had the 
upper hand. I never could leave my quarters without wit- 
nessing many things of a sinful kind ; and that distressed 
me so much that I generally kept within doors, and only 
went out when it was absolutely necessary. And during my 
whole stay in China I always felt in meeting Musulmans just 
as if I had fallen in with my own kith and kin. The jurist 
Ul Bushri carried his kindness towards me so far that he 
escorted me on my journey for four days until my arrival at 
Baiwam Kutlu.' This was a small city inhabited by Chi- 

^ The MuwoHah (the name signifies, according to De&^mery, " Appro- 
priated/' but D'Herbelot translates it " Footstool") was a book on the 
traditions, held in great respect by the Mahomedans, who caUed it Mubd- 
r<ik, or Blessed. It was composed by the Im&m M&lik Bin Ans, one of 
the four chiefs of Orthodox sects. (lyHerhelot). 

* This meeting in the heart of China of the two Moors from the adjoin- 
ing towns of Tangier and Centa has a parallel in that famous, but I fear 
mythical story of the capture of the Grand Vizier on the Black Sea by 
Manihal Keith, then in the Russian service. The venerable Turk's look 
of xeoognition drew from the Marshal the same question that Ul Bushri 
addressed to Ibn Batuta, and the answer came forth in broad Fifeshire 
dialect — " Eh man ! aye, I mind you wed, for my father was the bellman 
of Kirkaldy ! " 

* The name looks Turkish rather than Chinese, and may be connected 
with that of Baiam, the great general and minister of Eublai. It is pos- 
sible, however, that the Baiwam may represent Poyang, the old name of 
Tao-cheu, on the Poyang Lake, which I suppose had its name from this 



496 TRAVELS O? IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL, CHINA^ 

nese traders and soldiers. There were but four houses of 
Musulmans there^ and the owners were all disciples of the 
jurist above mentioned. We took up our quarters with one 
of them, and stayed three days. I then bade adieu to the 
doctor, and proceeded on my journey. 

As usual, I travelled on the river, dining at one village, 
supping at another, till afler a voyage of seventeen days we 
arrived at the city of Khaksa.' (The name of this city is 
nearly the same as that of Khans&, the poetess,^ but I don't 
know whether the name be actually Arabic, or has only an ac- 
cidental resemblance to it.) This city is the greatest I have 
ever seen on the surface of the earth. It is three days' 
journey in length, so that a traveller passing through the 
city has to make his marches and his halts I According to 
what we have said before of the arrangement followed in the 
cities of China, every one in Khans& is provided with his 
house and garden.^ The city is divided into six towns, 
as I shall explain presently. 

When we arrived, there came out to meet us the Kazi of 
Khansd, by name Afkharuddin, the Shaikh of Islam, and the 
descendants of 'Othm&n Bin Aff&n the Egyptian, who are 
the most prominent Mahomedans at Khansd. They carried 
a white flag, with drums, trumpets, and horns. The com- 
mandant of the city also came out to meet me with his 
escort. And so we entered the city. 

city (Martini in Thevenot, p. 109). The position would be very appro- 
priate. 

1 Cansay of Odoric, Sec, Kingsze or Hangchenfii ; see pp. 118, 259, 
854, etc., supra, 

3 All I can tell of this lady is from the following extract : — " Al-ChaziBa, 
the most celebrated Arabic poetess, shines exclusively in elegiac poetiy. 
Her laments over her two murdered brothers, Mnawiya and Sachr, are the 
most pathetic, tender, and passionate, yet no translation could convey the 
fulness of their beauty. To be appreciated they must be read in the 
migestic, soft, sonorous words of the original/* (Saturday Review, June 
17, 1866, p. 740). 

^ This agrees but ill with Odoric's " non est spansa terra quw non habi- 
tatur bene." There are several very questionable statements in Ibn Ba- 
tuta's account of the great city. 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPBLAGO. 497 

It is subdivided into six towns^ each of wHicli has a 
separate enclosure, whilst one great wall surrounds the 
whole. In the first city was posted the garrison of the 
city, with its commandant. I was told by the Kazi and 
others that there were 12,000 soldiers on the rolls. We 
passed the night at the commandant^s house. The next 
day we entered the second city by a gate called the Jews' 
Grate. This town was inhabited by Jews, by Christians, and 
by those Turks who worship the sun; they are very numerous. 
The Amir of this town is a Chinese, and we passed the se- 
cond night in his house. The third day we made our entrance 
into the third city, and this is occupied by the Mahomedans. 
It is a fine town, with the bazaars arranged as in Musulman 
countries, and with mosques and muezzins. We heard these 
last calling the Faithful to prayer as we entered the city. Here 
we were lodged in the house of the children of Othm&n Bin 
Affan, the Egyptian. This Othman was a merchant of great 
eminence, who took a liking to this town, and established 
himself in it ; indeed it is named after him AVOthmdniyaK 
He bequeathed to his posterity in this city the dignity and 
consideration which he had himself enjoyed ; his sons follow 
their father in their beneficence to religious mendicants, and 
in affording relief to the poor. They have a convent called 
also Al 'Othm&niyah, which is a handsome edifice, endowed 
with many pious bequests, and is occupied by a fraternity 
of Suils. It was the same Othmdn who built the Jdma' 
Masjid (cathedral mosque) in this city, and he has be- 
queathed to it (as well as to the convent) considerable sums 
to form a foundation for pious uses. 

The Musulmans in this city are very numerous. We re- 
mained with them fifteen days, and every day and every 
night I was present at some new entediainment. The 
splendour of their banquets never flagged,' and every day 
they took me about the city on horseback for my diversion. 
One day that they were riding with me we went into the 

32 



498 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IK BENGAL, CHINA , 

fourth city, ^here the seat of the government is, and also 
the palace of the great Amir Kurtai. When we had passed 
the gate of the town my companions left me, and I was re- 
ceived by the Wazir, who conducted me to the palace of the 
great Amir Kurtai. I have already related how this latter 
took from me the pelisse which had been given me by the 
Friend of God, Jalaluddin of Shir&z. This fourth town is 
intended solely for the dwellings of the emperor's officers and 
slaves ; it is the finest of all the six towns, and is traversed 
by three streams of water. One of these is a canal from the 
great river, and by it the supplies of food and of stones for 
burning are brought in smaU boats ; there are also pleasure 
boats to be had upon it. The citadel is in the middle of the 
town ; it is of immense extent, and in the centre of it is the 
palace of the government. The citadel surronnds this on all 
sides, and is provided with covered sheds, where artizans are 
seen employed in making magnificent dresses, arms, and 
engines of war. The Amir Kurtai told me that there were 
1,600 master workmen, each of whom had under his direc- 
tion three or four apprentices. All are the K&n's slaves ; 
they are chained, and live outside the fortress. They are 
allowed to frequent the bazars of the town, but not to go 
beyond the gate. The Amir musters them daily, and if any 
one is missing their chief is responsible. It is customary 
to remove their fetters after ten years' service, and they have 
then the option of either continuing to serve without fetters 
or of going where they will, provided they do not pass beyond 
the frontier of the Kdn's territory. At the age of fifty they 
are excused all further work, and are maintained at the cost 
of tho State. But indeed in any case every one, or nearly 
every one, in China, who has reached that age, may obtain 
his maintenance at the public expense.^ He who h^ reached 
the age of sixty is regarded by the Chinese as a child, 
and is no longer subject to the penalties of the law. Old 

^ See abore^ p. 240, and M. Polo^ i, 39. 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPELAQO. 499 

men are treated with great respect in that country^ and are 
always addressed as Athd or ^' Father/'^ 

The Amir Kurtai is the greatest lord in China.' He 
offered as hospitality in his palace, and gave an entertain- 
ment snch as those people call Thuwai,^ at which the digni- 

« 

taries of the city were present. He had got Mahomedan 
cooks to kill the cattle and cook the dishes for us, and this 
lord, great as he was, carved the meats and helped us with 
his own hands ! We were his guests for three days, and 
one day he sent his son to escort us in a trip on the canal. 
We got into a boat like a fire-ship,* whilst the young lord 
got into another, taking singers and musicians with him. 
The singers sang songs in Chinese, Arabic, and Persian. 
The lord^s son was a great admirer of the Persian songs, 
and there was one of these sung by them which he caused to 
be repeated several times, so that I got it by heart from 
their singing. This song had a pretty cadence in it, and 

thus it went : — 

" Td dil ba mihnat dddim, 
Dar bdhri-ifikr ufiddCm, 
CM/a dar namdz %8tdd{m, 

Kawi hamihrdb anderim" ^ 

* See above, p. 118. 

' I cannot identify this Prince in the translated Chinese histories. 
Kurtai is hovever a gentiine Tartar name, and is found as the name of 
one of the Mongol generals in the preceding century (D'Ohsson, ii, 260). 

3 That or Tuwi is a word believed to be of Turki origin, used frequently 
by Bashid and other medieval Persian writers for a feast or /Me (see 
QuatrenUre'a Bashideddin, pp. 139-40, 164, 216, 414; see also a previous 
passage of JhnBaiuta, iii, 40). 

* Hatrdqah. "Navis incendiaria aut missilibus pyriis instructa" 
(freytag). I do not understand what is meant by the comparison. It 
cannot refer to the blaze of light, because this was in the daytime. But 
perhaps Ibn Batuta applies the word only in the sense of some kind of 
state barge, for he uses the same title for the boat in which he saw the II- 
Khan Abu Said with his Wazir taking an airing on the Tigris at Baghdad 
(ii, 116). 

* The " pretty cadence" is precisely that of— 



« 



We wont go home tiU morning. 
We wont go home till morning, 

32 » 



500 TRAVELS OP IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHINA, 

Crowds of people in boats were gathered on the canal. The 
sails were of all bright colours, the people carried parasols of 
silk, and the boats themselves were gorgeously painted. 
They skirmished with one another, and pelted each other 
with oranges and lemons. In the evening we went 
back to pass the night at the Amir's palace, where the 
musicians came again and sang veiy fine songs. 

That same night a juggler, who was one of the E&n's slaves, 
made his appearance, and the Amir said to him, ''Come and 
show us some of your marvels. '' Upon this he took a 
wooden ball^ with several holes in it through which long 
thongs were passed, and (laying hold of one of these) slung 
it into the air. It went so high that we lost sight of it 
altogether. (It was the hottest season of the year, and we 
were outside in the middle of the palace court.) There now 
remained only a little of the end of a thong in the conjuror's 
hand^ and he desired one of the boys who assisted him to lay 
hold of it and mount. He did so^ climbing by the thong, 
and we lost sight of him also I The conjuror then called to 
him three times, but getting no answer he snatched up a 
knife, as if in a great rage, laid hold of the thong, and dis- 
appeared also ! Bye and bye he threw down one of the 
boy's hands, then a foot, then the other hand and the other 
foot^ then the trunk, and last of all the head ! Then he 
came down himself, all puffing and panting, and with his 
clothes all bloody^ kissed the ground before the Amir^ and 
said something to hint in Chinese. The Amir gave some 
order in reply, and our friend then took the lad's limbs, laid 
them together in their places^ and gave a kick^ when, presto! 



We wont go home till momiiig. 
Till dayHght doth appear 1 " 



It may be somewhat freely rendered — 



€f 



My heart ffiyen up to emotions. 
Was o'erwnelmed in waves like the ocean's ; 
But betaking me to my devotions. 
My troubles were gone from me ! 



»> 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPELAOO. 501 

there was the boy, who got up and stood before us !^ All 
this astonished me beyond measure, and I had an attack of 
palpitation like that which overcame me once before in the 
presence of the Sultan of India, when he showed me some- 
thing of the same kind. They gave me a cordial, however, 
which cured the attack.' The Kazi Afkharuddin was next 
to me, and quoth he, *' Wall&h ! ^tis my opinion there has 
been neither going up nor coming down, neither marring 
nor mending ; 'tis all hocus pocus !'' 

The next day we entered the gate of the fifth city, which 
is the biggest of all the six, and is inhabited by the Chinese. 
It has splendid bazars and capital artificers, and it is there 
that they make the textures called Ichansdwiyah, Among 
the fine things made here also are the plates and dishes 
called DasL They are composed of cane, the fibres of 

1 In a modem Indian version of this trick, which I lately heard de- 
scribed by an eye-witness, the boy was covered with a basket and desired 
to descend into the earth. On his refusal, the conjoror roshed at the 
basket and pierced it violently in all directions with a spear, whilst blood 
flowed from nnder it, and the boy's dying groans were heard. On remov- 
ing the basket there was of coarse nothing to be seen, and presently the 
boy made his appearance running from the gate of the compound in which 
the performance took place. The vanishing upwards certainly renders 
Ibn Batata's story much more wonderful. A like feature is found in 
some extraordinary Indian conjurors' tricks described by the Emperor 
Jihanghir in his memoirs. 

- On the occasion referred to (iv, 39), Ibn Batuta, when visiting Ma- 
homed Tughlak, finds two Jogis in the king's apartments, one of whom 
whilst sitting cross-legged rises in the air. His comrade then pulls oat 
a shoe and raps on the ground with it. The shoe immediately mounts 
in the air to the neck of the elevated Jogi, and begins tapping him on 
the nape of the neck ; as it taps he gradually subsides to the ground. 
The traveller, unused to such operations of "levitation" and spirit- 
rapping, faints away in the king's presence. 

Bioold Montecroce ascribes such practices to the BozHcb {Hakshis or 
Lamas). One of them was said to fly. The fiict was, says Bicold, that 
he did not fly, but he used to skim the ground without touching it, and 
when he seemed to be sitting down he was sitting upon nothing ! (p. 117.) 

A Brahman at Madras some forty or flfty years ago exhibited himself 
sitting in the air. In his case, I think, mechanical aids were discovered, 
but I cannot refer to the particulars. 



502 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHINA^ 

which are platted together in a wonderfal manner, and then 
covered with a brilliant coat of red lacker. Ten of these 
plates go to a set, one fitting inside the other, and so fine 
are they that when you see them yoa would take the whole 
set for but one plate. A cover then goes over the whole. 
There are also great dishes or trays made with the same 
cane*work. Some of the excellent properties of such 
dishes are these : they don^t break when they tumble, and 
you can put hot things into them without spoiling or in the 
least afiecting their colour. These plates and dishes are 
exported from China to India, Khorasan, and other 
countries.^ 

We passed a night in the fifth town as the guests of the 
commandant, and the next day we proceeded to enter the 
sixth by a gate called that of the kishtiwdndn, or boatmen. 
This town is inhabited only by seamen, fishermen, caulkers, 
carpenters (these last they call dudkdrdn), by the sipahis, 
i. e. the archers, and by the piyddaliSj i. e. the foot soldiers.^ 
All of them are the emperor's slaves ; no other class live 
with them, and their numbers are very great. The town of 
which we speak is situated on the banks of the Great Biver, 
and we stayed the night there, enjoying the hospitality of 
the commandant. The Amir Kurtai had caused a boat to be 
fitted up for us, and equipped with everything needful in the 
way of provisions and otherwise. He also sent some of his 
people to accompany us, in order that we might be received 
everywhere as the emperor's guests, and so we quitted this 

^ Lackered ware is still made in Burma quite in the way that the 
traveller describes, and so it is doubtless in China. Indeed the cane 
dishes are mentioned by the Archbishop of Soltania (supra, p. 246). 

* Here as usual with Ibn Batuta one would suppose that these words 
were the yemacnlar Chinese instead of being Persian. If we could depend 
upon him thoroughly in such matters, the use of these words would in- 
dicate that Persian was the language of the Mahomedan communities in 
China. IXidkdrcM is for Durudgardn, carpenters. The explanations 
" archers" and " footsoldiers" (ul^ajdl) are Ibn Batuta's own, and the 
use of the latter word is perhaps unfavourable to the translation at p. 474. 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPELAOO. 503 

city, the province nnder which is the last of those of China, 
and proceeded to enter Cathat.^ 

Cathaj is the best cultivated land in the world ; in the 
whole conntry you will not find a bit of ground lying fallow. 
The reason is, tfiat if a piece of ground be left uncultivated^ 
they still oblige the people on it, or if there be none the 
people nearest to it, to pay the land-tax. Gardens, villages, 
and cultivated fields line the two banks of the river in unin- 
terrupted succession from the city of EDiansd to the city of 
Khanbaxik, a space of sixty-four days^ journey. 

In those tracts you find no Musulmans, unless as mere 
passengers, for the localities are not adapted for them to fix 
themselves in, and you find no regular cities, but only vil- 
lages, and plains covered with com, fruit trees, and sugar 
cane. I do not know in the whole world a region to be 
compared to this, except that space of four days' march be- 
tween Anb&r and 'Anah. Every evening we landed at a 
difierent village, and were hospitably received.* 

And thus at last we arrived at Kh&nb&lik, also called 
Ehaniku.^ It is the capital of the K&n or great Emperor, who 
rules over China and Cathay. We moored, according to the 
custom of these people, ten miles short of Khanbalik, and 
they sent a report of our arrival to the admirals, who gave 

' Khithd. Here Ibn Batata makes China (Sin) correspond to Mangi, 
or the Sang empire, first redaced ander the Mongols by Eablai. In other 
passages he appears to ase S£n for the whole empire, as (in iii, 17) where 
he speaks of Almilik as situated at the extremity of Mawaralnahr, near 
the place where China (Sin) begins. 

' Anbar, on the Enphrates abreast of Baghdad; Anah, about 120 miles 
higher up. The aUeged absence of cities on the banks of the canal is so 
contrary to fact, that one's doubts arise whether Ibn Batuta could have 
travelled beyond Hangcheu. 

' Of this name Khaniku I can make nothing. KhdnkA indeed appears 
in Abulfeda several times as the alternative name of Khans&, but is in 
that case an evident mistake (one dot too many), for the Khdnfu of Abu 
Said in Beinaud*8 BeUUums, the G«npu of Marco, the Kanphti of the 
Chinese, which was the seaport of K"hftnfla or Hangcheu, and stood upon 
the estuary of the Che Kiang, about twelve leagues from the great city 
(JOopr. Mem. ii, 200). 



504 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHIKA^ 

OS permission to enter the port^ and this we did. At last 
we landed at the citj^ which is one of the greatest in the 
world, and differs from all the other cities of China in having 
no gardens inside the walls ; they are all ontside, as in other 
countries. The city or quarter in which the*emperor resides 
stands in the middle like a citadel, as we shall tell hereafter. 
I took up my quarters with the shaikh Burh&nuddin of 
Sagharj, the individual to whom the Sultan of India sent 
40,000 dinars, with an invitation to go to his dominions. 
He took the money indeed, and paid his debts with it, but 
declined to go the King of Dehli, and direct-ed his course 
towards China. The K&n put him at the head of all the 
Musulmans in his empire, with the title of Sadr^uUJihdn, 
or Chief of the World.* 

The word Kdn {Qdn) among the Chinese is a generic 
term for any one governing the empire ; in fact, for the 
kings of their country, just as the lords of the Ldr country 
are called Atdhek. The proper name of this sultan is Pdshdi, 
and there is not among the infidels on the whole fac« of the 
earth so great an empire as his.' 

• > As Ibn Batata relates elsewhere (iii, 255) this celebrated pceacher 
gave as his reason for refusing to visit India : " I will not go to the court 
of a king who makes philosophers stand in his presence." Ciirioosly 
enough the story is also told in the Masdlak ul Ahsdr, of which extracts 
have been translated by Quatrem^re, According to that work, Barh4nud* 
din of Saghaij was Shaikh of Samarkand, and Sultan Mahomed of Dehli, 
hearing much of his fame, sent him 40,000 tankctha (we here see corrobo- 
ration that the Indian dintur of Ibn Batuta is the Tankah of other authors) 
with an invitation to his court. The messenger on his arrival at Samar- 
kand found the Shaikh had set out for China, so he gave the money to a 
young slave-girl of his, desiring her to let her master know that Ms 
presence was vehemently desired by the King of Dehli {Notices ei 
£xtrait«, xiii, 196). 

3 Atahek was the title borne by various powerful Amirs at the court of 
the Seyucidffi, which they retained after becoming independent indiffer- 
ent provinces of Irak, Azarbvjan, etc. The title is said to mean '* The 
Prince's Father." It was also held at the Court of Dehli under the trans- 
lated form Khan Bdba (Elph, Hist, of India, ii, 216). Ibn Batuta had 
visited one of the Atabeks, Afrasiab, in Luristan, on his way from Baghdad 
to Ispahan. By Pdshdi, I suspect he only means the Persian Pddskdh, 



AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 505 

The palace of the monarcli is situated in the middle of the 
city appropriated to his residence. It is almost entirely 
constracted of carved wood, and is admirably laid out. It 
has seven gates. At the first gate sits the Kotwdl, who is 
the chief of the porters, whilst elevated platforms right and 
left of the gate are occupied by the pages called Pardadd- 
riyah (curtain-keepers), who are the warders of the palace 
gates. These were 500 in number, and I was told that they 
used to be 1,000. At the second gate are stationed the 
Sipdhts, or archers, to the number of 500 ; and at the third 
^te are the Nizahdars, or spearmen, also 500 in number. 
At the fourth gate are the Teghddriyah (sabre-men) men 
with sabre and shield. At the fifth gate are the offices of 
the ministerial departments, and these are furnished with 
numerous platforms.^ On the principal one of these sits the 
wazir, mounted on an enormous sofa, and this is called the 
Masnad. Before the wazir is a great writing table of gold. 
Opposite is the platform of the private secretary ; to the 
right of it is that of the secretaries for despatches, and to 
the right of the wazir is that of the clerks of the finances. 

These four platforms have four others facing them. One 
is called the office of control ; the second is that of the office 
of Mustakhraj, or ' Produce of Extortion,' the chief of which 
is one of the principal grandees. They call mustakhraj the 
balances due by collectors and other officials, and by the 
amirs from the claims upon their fiefs. The third is the 
office of appeals for redress, where one of the great officers 
of state sits, assisted by secretaries and counsel learned in 
the law. Any one who has been the victim of injustice ad- 

The real name of the emperor at this time was Togon Timor, sumamod 
Ukhagatn, called by the Chinese ShontL 

1 The word is Saqifah, which is defined in the dictionary Locus dUcvJnto- 
riu* ad inttar laiiorit scamni constructiu ante ades, and translated in the 
French Eitrade, I sappose it here to represent an open elevated shed or 
pavilion, soch as appears to be much affected in the courts of Chinese and 
Indo-Chinese palaces. 



506 TRAVELS OF IBK BATtJTA IN BENGAL^ CHINA^ 

dresses himself to them for aid and protection. The fourth 
is the office of the posts^ and there the head of the news 
department has his seat.* 

At the sixth gate of the palace is stationed the king's 
body guards with its chief commandant. The eunuchs are at 
the seventh gate. They have three platforms^ the first of 
which is for the Abyssinians^ the second for the Hindus^ 
the third for the Chinese. Each of these three classes has 
a chiefs who is a Chinese. 

When we arrived at the capital Khanbalik, we found that 
the K&n was absent^ for he had gone forth to fight Firuz^ the 
son of his uncle, who had raised a revolt against him in the 
territory of Karaeoram and Bishbaliqh, in Cathay.* To 
reach those places from the capital there is a distance to be 
passed of three months^ march from the capital through a 
cultivated country. I was informed by the Sadr-ul-Jihin, 
Burh&nuddin of Sagharj, that when the K&n assembled his 
troops, and called the array of his forces together, there 
were with him one hundred divisions of horse, each com- 
posed of 10,000 men, the chief of whom was called Amir 
Tumdn or lord of ten thousand.^ Besides these the imme- 
diate foUowers of the sultan and his household furnished 
50,000 more cavalry. The infantry consisted of 500,000 
men. When the emperor had marched, most of the amfrs 

^ In the whole of this description, with its Persian technicalities^ it is 
pretty clear that Ibn Batata is drawing either on his imagination, or 
(more probably) on his recoUections of the Court of Dehli, and hence we 
have the strongest ground for suspecting that he never entered the palace 
of Peking, if indeed he ever saw that city at aU. In iii, 295, he has told 
us of an office at the Court of Dehli which bore the name of Mustakhraj, 
the business of which was to extort unpaid balances by bastinado and 
other tortures. 

3 Karakoram, the chief place successively of the Khans of Kerait, 
and of the Mongol KiLns tiU Kublai established his residence in China. 
BUhbdlik (i.e. " Pentapolis") lay between Karakoram and Almalik ; and 
had anciently been the chief seat of the Uigur nation. It is now, accord- 
ing to Klaproth, represented by Urumtsi. 

3 Tuman. See supra, p. 117. 



AND THK INDIAN ABCHIPSLAGO. 507 

1-evolted, and agreed to depose him^ for he had violated the 
laws of the Yasdk, that is to say^ of the code estabUshed by 
their ancestor Tankiz Khan^ who ravaged the lands of 
Islam.' They deserted to the camp of the emperor's coasin 
who was in rebellion^ and wrote to the K&n to abdicate and 
be content to retain the city of Ehansd for his apanage. 
llie K&n refused, engaged them in battle, and was defeated 
and slain.* 

This news was received a few days after our arrival at the 
capital. The city upon this was decked out, and the people 
went about beating drums and blowing trumpets and horns, 
and gave themselves over to games and amusements for a 
whole month. The K&n's body was then brought in with 
those of about a hundred more of his cousins, kinsfolk, and 
favourites who had fallen. After digging for the Kan a 
great Ndvms or crypt,' they spread it with splendid carpets, 
and laid therein the Kin with his arms. They put in also 
the whole of the gold and silver plate belonging to the 
palace, with four of the Kiin's young slave girls, and six of 
his chief pages holding in their hands vessels full of drink. 
They then built up the door of the crypt and piled earth on the 
top of it till it W€k8 like a high hill. After this they brought 

1 The Tata or ordinances which Chinghiz laid down for the guidance of 
his saoceesors may be seen more or less in Fetis de la Croix, D'Ohsson, De- 
goignes, in Y. Hammer's Golden Horde, and in Univers Pt£tor6<giie(Tarta- 
rie, p. 313). The word is said to mean any kind of ordinance or regulation. 
Baber tells ns in his Autobiography : " My forefathers and family had 
always sacredly observed the Rules of Chenghiz. In their parties, in 
their ooorts, their festivals, and their entertainments, in their sitting 
down, and in their rising up, they never acted contrary to the Institu- 
tions of Chenghiz" (p. 202). 

s The Emperor Togontimur or Shunti, who was on the throne at the 
time of Ibn Batuta's visit (1347)> had succeeded in 1333, and continued 
to reign till his expulsion by the Chinese and the fall of his dynasty in 
136H. Nor can I find in Deguignes or De Mailla the least indication of 
any circumstance occurring about this time that could have been made 
the foundation of such a story. 

> Defr^mery says from the Ur. va6s. Meninski gives "Ndy/ras (or jVdus). 
** Coemeterium, vel delubrum magorum." 



508 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHINA^ 

four horses and made them run races round the emperor's se- 
pulchre until they could not stir a foot ; they next set up close 
to it a great mast, to which they shspended those horses 
afber driving a wooden stake right through their bodies from 
tail to mouth. The K&n's kinsfolk also, mentioned above, 
were placed in subterranean cells, each with his arms and 
the plate belonging to his house. Adjoining the tombs of 
the principal men among them to the number of ten they 
set up empaled horses, three to each, and beside the re- 
maining tombs they impaled one horse a-piece.^ 

1 This appears to be a very correct accoant of Tartar fiineral cere- 
monies, though Ibn Batuta certainly did not witness those of a defanct 
emperor. As far back as the days of Herodotus we are told that the 
Scythians used to bury with their king one of his concubines, his cup- 
bearer, a cook, groom, lacquey, messenger, several horses, etc., and a 
year later further ceremonial took place, when fifty selected from his 
attendants were strangled, and fifty of his finest horses also slain. The 
bowels were taken out and replaced with chaff. A number of posts were 
then erected in sets of two pairs each, and on eyery pair the half feUy 
of a wheel was set arch-wise ; " then strong stakes are run lengthwise 
through the bodies of the horses from tail to neck, and they are mounted 
on the fellies so that the feUy in front supports the shoulders of the horse 
while that behind sustains the beUy and quarters, the legs dangling in 
mid air; each horse is famished with a bit and bridle," etc. The fifty 
strangled slaves were then set astride on the horses, and so on. 

When one Valentine was sent on a mission to the Turkish chiefs by 
the Emperor Tiberius II about 580, it is related that he witnessed a 
ceremonial at the tomb of a deceased chief when Hun prisoners and 
horses were sacrificed. 

Hue and C^bet assert that like practices are maintained among Tartar 
tribes to the present day, large amounts of gold and silver, and many 
slaves of both sexes, being buried with the royal body, the slaves being 
killed by being made to swaUow mercury tiU choked, which is believed 
to preserve their colour ! 

But the most exact corroboration of Ibn Batuta's account is to be 
found in the (almost) contemporary naxrative of Sioold of Monte Croce. 
After speaking of the general practice of burying food and raiment with 
the dead, he goes on, " Magni etiam barones omnibus hiis addunt equum 
bonum. Nam armiger ^us ascendit equum, cum ipsi parant se ad sepeli- 
endum mortuum, et fatigat equum currendo et revolvendo usque ad lassi- 
tudinem, et poetea lavit equo caput cum vino puro et forti, et equus cadit, 
et ipse exenterat eum, et evacuat omnia de ventre equi, et implet herba 
viridi, et postea infigit palum magnum per posteriora, et facit palum 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPELAQO. 509 

It was a great day I Every soul was there^ man and 
woman^ Musulman and infidel. All were dressed in mourn- 
ings that is^ the Pagans wore short white dresses^ and the 
Masulmans long white dresses. The K&n's ladies and 
favourites remained in tents near his tomb for forty days ; 
some remained longer; some a Aill year. A bazar had 
been established in the neighbourhood^ where all necessary 
provisions^ etc.^ were for sale. I know no other nation in our 
time that keeps up such practices. The pagans of India and 
China bum their dead ; other nations bury them^ but none 
of them thus bury the living with the dead. However 
honest people in Sdd&n have told me that the pagans of that 
country, when their king dies, dig a great pit, into which they 
pat with him several of his favourites and servants together 
with thirty persons of both sexes, selected from the families 
of the great men of the state. They take care first to break 
the arms and legs of these victims, and they also put vessels 
full of drink into the pit. 

An eminent person of the tribe of Masdfah, living among 
the Negroes in the country of Kiiber,* who was much held 
in honour by their king, told me that when the king died 
tliey wished to put a son of his own into the tomb with some 
other children belonging to the country. "But I said to 
them,'* continued this eminent person, '' how can you do 
this, seeing the boy is neither of your religion nor of your 
country? And so I was allowed to ransom him with a large 
sum of money.*' 

exire uaqae ad 00, et ita dimittit eqanm impalatum, et saspendit earn, et 
mandat ei quod sit paratos, quandocumqae Tult dominos eargere, et 
tunc oooperiant mortanxn in sepultura. Cum vero moiitur imperator, 
addantar prsdictis onmes lapides preoiosi et etiam magni theeaturi. Et 
consaerenmt etiam sepelire cum domino mortuo osqae viginti servoa 
vivoB nt eesent parati senrire domino cam Toluerit smrgere." Such 
proceedings took place at the burial of Hulagu. 

(Rawlinson'i Herodotvu, bk. iy, c. 71-72, and notee ; Deguignes, u, 895-6 ; 
Pereffrin, QwUnor, p. 117 ; see also M. Polo, ii, 54 ; Bubruquit, p. 337 ; and 
Piano Carpini, p. 629.) 

* I suppose the Oober of Dr. Barth's map, near Sakatu. 



510 TRAVELS OP IBN BATUTA IN BBNOAL, CHINA^ 

When the K&n was dead^ as I have related^ and Firaz, 
the son of his ancle^ had usurped the supreme power^ the 
latter chose for his capital the city of Karakobam, because it 
was nearer to the territories of his cousins^ the kings of 
Turkestan and Mawaruhiahr.' Then several of the amirs 
who had taken no part in the slaughter of the late E&n re- 
volted against the new prince ; thej began to cut off the 
communications^ and there was great disorder. 

Bevolt having thus broken out^ and civil war having been 
kindled^ the Shaikh Burh&nuddin and others advised me to 
return to (Southern) China before the disturbances should 
have arisen to a greater pitch. They went with me to the 
Ueutenant of the Emperor Piruz, who sent three of his fol- 
lowers to escort me^ and ¥rrote orders that I should be 
everywhere received as a guest. So we descended the river 
to Khans&^ Kanjanfii and Zaitun. When we reached the 
latter place^ I found junks on the point of sailing for India^ 
and among these was one belonging to Malik-ul-Zdhir, Sal- 
tan of Java (Sumatra)^ which had a Mahomedan crew. The 
agent of the ship recognised me^ and was pleased to see me 
again. We had a fair wind for ten days, but as we got near 
the land of Taw&lisi it changed, the sky became black, and 
heavy rain fell. For ten days we never saw the sun, and 
then we entered on an unknown sea. The sailors were in 
great alarm, and wanted to return to China, but this was 
not possible. In this way we passed forty-two days, with- 
out knowing in what waters we were. 

On the forty-third morning after daybreak we descried a 
mountain in the sea, some twenty miles off, and the wind was 
carrying us straight for it. The sailors were surprised and 
said, '^We are far from the mainland, and in this sea no 
mountain is known. If the wind drives us on this one we 
are done for.'^ Then every one betook himself to humilia- 

1 Here two Mongol dynaetieB reigning in Central Asia seem to be 
spoken of (see p. 274 supra, and note at the end of this). 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPBLAOO. 511 

tion and repentance^ and renewal of good resolutions. We 
addressed ourselves to God in prayer^ and sought the medi- 
ation of the prophet (upon whom be peace!}. 

The merchants vowed to bestow alms in abundance^ and 
I wrote their vows all down in a list with my own hand. 
The wind lulled a little, and when the sun rose we saw the 
mountain aloft in the air, and the clear sky between it and the 
sea.' We were in astonishment at this, and I observed that 
the sailors were weeping and bidding each other adieu, so I 
called out, "What is the matter?'' They replied, " What 
we took for a mountain is the Bukkh I If it sees us it will 
send us to destruction.'' It was then some ten miles from 
the junk. But God Almighty was gracious unto us, and 
sent us a fair wind, which turned us from the direction in 
which the Bukkh was ; so we did not see him (well enough) 
to take cognizance of his real shape. 

Two months from that day we arrived at Java (Island of 
Sumatra), and landed at (the city of) Sumatra. We found 
the Sultan Malik-ul-Zahir had just returned from one of his 
campaigns, and had brought in with him many captives, 
out of whom he sent me two girls and two boys. He put 
me up as usual, and I was present at the marriage of his son 
to the daughter of his brother. 

> Such an appearance is a well known effect of mirag^e^ or abnormal 
refraction. As to the Bukh see Mr. Major's Introdaotion to India in the 
l&ih century, p. xxzTi, $eq„ and a learned discoorse in Ludolfs Ck>mment. 
on his own Bjstoria Ethiopica, pp. 163-164 ; also a cut from a Persian 
drawing in Lant^s Arabian Nights, ii, 90. The most appropriate reference 
here however is perhaps to Pigafetta, who was told (possibly by de- 
scendants of Ibn Batnta's Malay crew) that in the sea of China sotto 
Cfiava maggiare there was a very gpreat tree called Campangunghi, in which 
dwelt the birds called garuda, which were so big that they could fly away 
with a buffalo, or even with an elephant. No ship could approach the 
place within several leagues, on account of the yortices, etc. {Primo Viag- 
gio intomo del Mondo, p. 174). Oaruda is a term from the Hindu 
mythology for the great bird that carries Vishnu; its use among the 
Malays is a relic of their ancient religion, and perhapitf indicates the 
origin of the stories of the Ruhh. To an island of the Indian Sea also 
Kazwini attributes a bird of such enormous aze, that, if dead, the half of 
its beak would serve for a ship {OildemeiBter, p. 220). 



512 TRAVELS OP IBN BATUTA IN BENGAL, CHINA, 

I witnessed the ceremony. I remarked that they had set 
up in the middle of the palace yard a great seat of state, 
covered with silk staffs. The bride arrived, coming from 
the inner apartments of the palace on foot, and with her face 
exposed, so that the whole company could see her, gentle and 
simple alike. However it is not their usual custom to appear 
in public unveiled in this way; it is only done in the marriage 
ceremony." The bride proceeded to the seat of state, the min- 
strels male and female going before her, playing and singing. 
Then came the bridegroom on a caparisoned elephant, which 
carried on its back a sort of throne, surmounted by a canopy 
like an umbrella. The bridegroom wore a crown on his 
head ; right and left of him were about a hundred young 
men, of royal and noble blood, clothed in white, mounted on 
caparisoned horses, and wearing on their heads caps adorned 
with gold and gems. They were of the same age as the 
bridegroom, and all beardless. 

From the time when the bridegroom entered, pieces of 
gold and silver were scattered among the people. The 
sultan was seated aloft where he could see all that passed. 
His son got down from the elephant, went to kiss his father's 
foot, and then mounted on the seat of state beside his bride. 
They then brought pawn and betel-nut; the bridegroom took 
them in his hand and put them into the bride's mouth, and 
she did the same by him. Next he put a pawn-leaf first into 
his own mouth and then into hers, and she did in like man- 
ner.* They then put a veil over the bride, and removed the 

1 I suspect this apologetic assertion is not founded in fiict. The Maho- 
medan proselytizers among the Malays and Indo-Chinese races have 
never been able to introduce the habitual use of the v&l, and the custom 
of female seclusion. At Amarapura, in 1855, the Mahomedan soldiers of 
our Indian escort were greatly shocked at the absence of these proprieties 
among the Burmese professors of their faith ; and at the court of the 
Sultan of Java^ in 1860, 1 had the honour of shaking hands with more 
than half a dozen comely and veilless ladies, the wives and daughters of 
His Miyesty. I was told that at times they even honoured a ball at the 
Dutch Residency with their presence. 

9 This is a genuine Malay custom, marking the highest degree of inti- 



AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 513 

seat of state into the interior of the palace^ whilst the young 
coaple were still upon it ; the company took refreshments 
and separated. Next day the sultan called the people toge- 
ther^ and named his son as his successor on the throne. 
They took an oath of obedience to him^ and the future sove- 
rei^ distributed numerous presents in money and dresses. 

I spent two months in this island of Java^ and then em- 
barked again on a junk. The sultan presented me with a 
quantity of aloes-wood^ camphor^ cloves, and sandal-wood, 
and then gave me leave to depart. So I sailed, and after 
forty days I arrived at Kaulam. Here I put myself under 
the protection of Al-Kazwini, the judge of the Mahomedans. 
It was the month of Bamazan, and I was present at the 
festival of breaking the fast in the chief mosque of the city. 
The custom of the people there is to assemble on the eve of 
the feast at the mosque, and to continue reciting the praises 
of God till morning, and indeed till the moment when the 
prayer appropriate to the feast begins. Then this prayer is 
offered, the preacher pronounces a discourse, and the 
congregation disperses. 

From Kaulam I went to Calicut, where I remained some 
days. I intended at first to return to Dehli, but on second 
thoughts I had fears as to the consequences of such a step. 
So I embarked again, and after a passage of 28 days, I ar- 
rived at Zhafab.^ This was in the month of Moharram, of 
the year 48 (April or May, 1347).* I took up my quarters 
with the city preacher, 'Isa Ibn Th&tha. 

macy between the sexee. Dalaarier qaotes several examples in illustration 
firom Malay poems. 

1 Zhi^ar or Dhofar, one of the now decayed ports of Arabia^ on the 
coast of Hadhramaat. It is spoken of by Marco Polo as a beautiftil, 
large, and noble dty (iii« 41), but probably from report only. Ibn Batata 
seems chiefly struck by the flies and stench in the bazar (ii, 196). 

^ At p. 425 1 have pointed out generally that this date is inconsistent 
with preyions statements. Let me sum np the intervals assigned to the 
diiferent sections of his expedition to China : 

Those previous statements would make the time of his second visit 

33 



514 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BSHOAL^ CHINA^ 

to the MaldiveUliadB&U at lemtaa late aa August. 1M6. Heis48daj8 
on the voyage thence to Chittagong» and 40 dajB on that from Sonarganw 
to Sumatra. It is not stated how long was the intenrening time spent in 
Bengal, bat he waited at Sumatra a fbrtni^t, '* till the right seaoon lor 
the TQyage to China had aniTed," and this most haiFe been the termina- 
tion of the N.E. monsoon^ about Muoh, ld47; or the conunenoement of 
the S.W. monsoon^ a little later. The Toyage to China ooonpies time aa 
f<^owB :— To Mol-Jawa 21 days, stay there 8 ; to the Calm Sea 94, on that 
sea to Tawalisi 87. stay there say 8 s to Zaiton 17» total 115 days, and 
time of arrival aboat July or August. The interval oooupied by his jour- 
ney in China may be thus estimated : stay at Zaitun probably not less than 
10 days, voyage to Canton S7« stay there 14^ baok say 27, stay again at 
Zaiton say 4 : journey to Kaiganfti 10, stay there 15 ; to Baiwam Kotla 
4, to Ehansa 17, stay at Khansa at leaet 20 ; to KhanbaliV 64, stay 
there not speoifled, but probably not less than 60 days : voyage babk to 
Zaitnn say the sane as before, omittiAg stoppages. Le. 96 days. This 
makes the whole time over which his travels in China extended 867 days, 
and would bring the season of his sailing for India again to July or August. 
His voyage as fbr as Sumatra then occupies 112 di^, he passes about 00 
days there, is 40 days in sailing to Kanlam. stops a while, say 15 days, at 
Kaulam and Calicut, and reaches Zhafiur in a voyage of 28, in all 255 
days, which brings us to March or April, agreeing with the time assigned 
in the text for his arrival at Dhate, but April in 1840,not April in 1847. 
The former date is, however, quite inconsistent with that assigned fior his 
arrival in his native country (November, 1849) ; nor would perhaps even 
April 1348 allowthe traveller of thosedays to accomplish all that Ibn Batuta 
did in the interval, especially as he gives several eoosiflteait intermediate 
dates between his arrival at Dha&r and his reaching Fez. 

Without going into tedious details, I think it probable that his visit to 
Bengal must, in spite of the data to the contrary, be put one year back, 
via., to the oold weather of 1845-46, and that the time occupied in his 
Chinese travela* including the voyage thither and back, must be cut down 
by a whole year also. This may be considered in connection with the 
doubts expressed as to his having really visited Pekiag. 



AND THE INDIAN ABCHIPELAOO. 515 



NOTE E. (See paoe 461.) 

ON THE KAMBU OF IBN BATIJTA (THE RESIDENCE OF THE 
SHAIKH JALALUDDIN), THE BLUE BIYEB, AND THE 

CITY OF HAHANE. 



It htm, I believe, been generally aBsomed that the coontxy of Kiunra 
visited by Ibn Batata waa Auam, and that the Bine Eiver by whioh he 
letamed to the Ghinges Delta wae the Brahmaputra. And I gather that 
M. Defr^mery (iv, 216) takes this view. 

It appeared to me however when I took ap the snbjeot that there was 
some reason to believe that the district visited was Silkst, and that the 
river in question was one branch or other of the great Silhet Siver, the 
Barak or the Surma. This was first suggested by the statement in the text 
that Shaikh JaUlnddin had converted a large number of the inhabitants 
to the Mahomedan £uth; for it is a fifict that in Silhet, though so remote 
from the centres of Mahomedan influence^ there is an unusually large 
proportion of the peasantry who profess tihat religion. It seemed how- 
ever probable that if Silhet were the site of Jalaluddin's missionary ex- 
ertionsy some trace of his memory would be preserved there. And of this 
I speedily found indications in two English works, whilst at the same 
time I forwarded through a valued friend, who had a correspondent at 
Silhet, some brisf queries for answer on the spot. 

In the interesting narrative of Robert Lindsay, who was one of the 
first English residents or collectors of Silhet (Livee of the Lindia/y$, iii, 
168), we find that on his first arrival there he was told "that it was cns- 
tomaiy for the new resident to pay his respects to the shrine of the 
tutelar saint Shaw Juloll. Pilgrims of the Islam frdth flock to the 
shrine firom every part of India» and I afterwards found that the fimatics 
attending the tomb were not a little dangerous", etc. An article on 
Silhet, by Captain Fisher, in the J JlS. Bengal for 1840 (the exact cita- 
tidn I have uwlnffiki^y lost), also speaks of Shah JaUl's sluine, and of his 
being traditionally regarded as the conqueror of the countiy fop the 

KAmrdb, Kimrdn, or E&mrd, corrupted from the Sanscrit JTdmortipa 
or Kammp, was vaguely known to the Arab geographers as the name of 
a mountainous countiy between India and China» noted for its produc- 
tion of a valuable aloes-wood (see QHdemeUter, pp. 70, 191 ; and JMnoud, 
Bd. dee Voyageet etc., p. 41). Though the seat of the ancient Hindu 
Qovemment of Eamrup was probably in Assam, a central district of 
which still preserves the name, we are informed by Captain Fisher (with 
no view to such a question as the present) that " it is known that Kam- 
nip extended to the southward as fiur as the confluence of the Megna 
with the Brahmaputra" (i. «., to the vicinity of Dacca; o. o., p. 829). He 
adds that there are still in Silhet some MusaAnan families who are the 
descendants of Bigas once under the dynasty of Kamrup, and who were 

33 « 



516 TRAVELS OP IBN BATUTA IN BENQAL^ CHINA, 

forced to conform to Mahomedanism on the change of masters. Of these, 
a principal one is the Riga of Baniaohong (a place between the Barak 
and Surma, about forty miles S.W. of Silhet). The first invasion of 
Kammp by the Mahomedans took place in 1205-6 under Mahomed 
Bakhtiyar Khi^i, Governor of Bengal; a second in 1253-57 onder another 
Gk>Tenv>r called Toghral Beg Malik Tnzbek (see Btewarfa HxMtory of 
Bengal, pp. 45, seqq,). Both these invasions ended in disaster; bnt, as 
iar as can be understood, both appear to have been directed through the 
Silhet territory, and then across the passes of the ICasia or Jaintia Hills 
into Assam. In the accounts of both invasions mention is made of a 
great river called Bangamati, on which stood a chief city which was c^>- 
tured by Bakhtiyar Ehi^ji. This name is not now applied to any river in 
that quarter ; but it seems highly probable that it may be connected with 
the Habaiik (Hahanga) of Ibn Batuta, and that this was situated at or 
near Silhet, perhaps at the place now called Banga, at the bifurcation 
of the Surma and Barak, twenty or thirty miles above Silhet. The 
Bangamati is described in the aocoimt of the Khi]yi's campaign as 
'* three times as big as the Ganges". But this might easily be accounted 
for if (as is very possible) the rivers of Silhet then chanced to occupy 
a more concentrated channel than at present, or if (as Captain Fisher 
suggests) the annual inundation had not quite subsided. This inunda- 
tion, when at its height, as I have seen it from the Kasia Hills, appears 
like a vast estuary, covering the whole plain, eighty miles in width, 
between the Kasia and the Tipura Hills. 

So far I had written when the answer arrived from my friend's coire- 
spondent, the Bev. W. Fryse of the Silhet mission. My questions had 
related to Jalaluddin and Habank, and whether any traces of a city 
existed at Banga. Mr. Pryse states that the name of JaloUudtn Tahriai 
was known to the learned Mahomedans at Silhet only as that of a Fir 
or Saint in Hindustan, but not locally either in Silhet or Cachar. He 
then proceeds : — 

"Shah Jbuli<l, according to tradition, came to Silhet about the middle 
of the fourteenth century (a.d.) accompanied by a hundred and eighty 
Arab Pira [Holy Men] from Yemen. There is a Persian MS. called 
" Suhayli- Yemen" still partly in existence at Shah JelaU's Mu£Qid here, 
which I have seen, but unfortunately the date and a large portion of the 
MS. are not legible, from the effect of the dimate. Shah Jelall's tomb 
once was, but is not now, a place of pilgrimage. 

" Habano is the name of a small Tillah' in the Pergunnah of Dinarpore 
south of Hubbigunge in this Zillah, running along the eastern or left 
bank of the Barak or Koosiara Biver. In tradition it is noted for its 
Pirs, under the name of " Habangia Tillah", or, as pronounced in the 
neighbourhood, " Hapaniya Tillah". . . . 

" Ghor Goola Tillah, to the south-east of Latoo, some ten or twelve 
miles S.E. of Banga Bazar (which still exists just at the separation of 
Soorma and Koosiara Rivers, on the western confines of Cachar), was for- 



1 T(la is the word commonly applied in Eastern Bengal to low and often 
isolated hills starting up from the plain. At the town of Silhet there are 
several such, on which the houses of the European officials are built. 



fl« 



. AND THE INDIAN ARCHIFELAQO. 517 

merly noted for its Pirs, An old fellow still resides there in the midst of 
the jangles on the bank of the beantifdl Svind Bheel (lake). The illite- 
rate Moslems around have a tradition that the Pvr» there make the tigers 
their playmates and protectors, and that boats ready manned start up from 
the lake ready for their use whenever they wish. 
" Banga BoMar is a modem village. The hillocks and jungles to the 

eastward are the resort of the Pirs. 

• • • . • • • • 

I think it probable that all the eastern portion of the Zillah of Silhet 
uninhabited when Mullik Yuzbek first entered the valley in 1258. 
Hence we find that the Hindus preponderate in the population of the 
western half» and the Moslems in that of the eastern half." 

A later note from the same gentleman adds : " I have found four cele- 
brated spots in this Zillah at which report says Shah Telall settled some 
of the Pirs who accompanied him, viz., Silhet Latoo, Hapaniya Tillah in 
Toroff, and Habano Tillah on the south-eastern bank of the Chingra 
Khal river, about six miles north-west from Silhet, and about four miles 
north from the village of Akhalia. At present nothing is to be found in 
any of these places excepting Silhet, where there is a mosque kept in 
repair by government. I believe the Habang Tillah on the Chengra 
Khal must be the one Col. Y. spoke of." 

These interesting notes appear to me to render it certain that Silhet was 
the field of our traveller's tour. That Shaikh Jalalnddin's name has got 
shortened by familiar use is of no importance against this view — ShaiK is 
a title often applied to eminent Mahomedan saints — ^whilst we learn that 
tradition still regards him as a saint and a leader of saints ; that the date 
assigned to him ooiresponds fairly with that derivable from Ibn Batuta, for 
the daotA of Jalaluddin must have occurred close upon the middle of the 
14th centuzy, shortly after Ibn Batuta's visit, i.e. in 1347 or 1348 (see sujm* a 
pp. 461, 464) ; and that the name of Habank still survives, and has a legen- 
dary fame. If no remains of Ibn Batuta's great city exist, that is small 
wonder. Neither climate nor materials in Bengal are favourable to the 
preservation of such remains, and I know of no medievsl remains in 
Bengal Proper except at Qwa and Pandua. 

The name of Al-AMrak, which our author applies to the river which he 
descends from Habank, is the same as that {Bahr-ol^Ajiriik) which we 
translate as the Blue Nile of Abyssinia. Ibn Batuta applies the same 
name to the Biver Karun in Tninr.iafii.Ti (U, 23). A Pendan title of like 
significsnce (NU-Ab) is applied by Musalman writers to the Indus, and 
also it would appear to the Jelum (see Jour. A.S., ix, 201 ; Sadik Jrfahani, 
p. 51 ; Dow's Firishia, i, 26), and the name here may therefore have been 
given arbitrarily. According to Wilkinson, however, Amrdk signifies black 
rather than bltte (BawUnaon's Herod,, ii, 26) ; and it is possible that the name 
of the Biver Surma, suggesting the black coUyrium so called, may have 
originated the title used by Ibn Batuta. 

I doubt if water wheels are at present used for irrigation, as described 
by the traveller, in any part of Bengal Proper, though common in the 
Upper Provinces. 

I should strongly dissent from Mr. Pryse's idea that Eastern Silhet was 



518 TRAVELS OF IBN BAT0TA IK BENGAL^ CHIKA^ 

nninhAbited in the 13th oentuxy. Bat I think it is highly probable that 
the inhabitants were not Hindus, bat of Indo-Chinese race, like those 
oocapying the a^oining hills and part of Oaohar. This is implied in Ibn 
Batuta's aocoant of the people, thoogh in strictness he speaks only of 
the hiU people. These, however, in the adjoining moontains, have not 
been converted to Mahomedanism. They retain their original character, 
and have the Mongolian type of featores in the highest development. Aa 
regards their powers of work, of which the traveller speaks so highly, I 
may observe that, when I was in that region^ porters of the Kasia nation 
osed often to cany down from tiie coal mines of Ohena Paiyi to the 
plains, a distance of eleven miles, loads of two maands or 165 lbs. of coal. 
Their strength and balk of leg were snoh as I have never seen elsewhere. 
On the map at the end of this book I have inserted a sketch from each 
imperfect materials as are available, to make Ibn Batata's travels in 
Bengal more intelligible. No decent map of Silhet yet exists, bat my 
friend Colonel ThailUer informs me that the sarvey is finished, so a cor- 
rect representation of that remarkable coantiy may be expected before 
long. 



NOTE F. (See page 468.) 
ON THE MUL^AVA OP IBN BATUTA. 

This Jlful-Jova is made by all the commentiitorBy professed or incidental 
(see Lee, Dalanrier, Defr^mery, Gildemeister, Walckenaer, Beinaad, 
La«sen), to be the Island of Java» and by help of Sanscrit the appellation 
is made with more or less of coercion to signify " Primitive or Original 
Java." Setting aside the qaeetionable application of Sanscrit etymologies 
to explain names which were probably conferred by Arab sailors, sorely it 
is not hard to see that if by Mol-Java, where elephants were kept by every 
petty shopkeeper, and eagle-wood was osed to serve the kitchen fires, the 
traveller did mean Java, then he lied so egregioasly that it is not worth 
considering what he meant. There are no elephants in Java, except sach 
few as are imported to swell the state of the native princes, — at present, 
perhaps, considerably fewer than we coold master in England, — and there 
is no eagle-wood. 

These circomstances taken alone woald lead as to seek for the coantiy 
in qoestion on some part of the Continent bordering the Golf of Siam, 
probably in or near Cambodia. There elephants are still almost as common 
as Ibn Batata represents them, and the country is also, and has been for 
ages, the great soaroe of sapply of aloes or eagle-wood. When formerly sug- 
gesting this view (in a note on Jordanua, p.Sd), I applied to a learned Arabic 
scholar to know if there were no term like mul in that language which 
might bear some such sense as Terra-Jirma. The answer was unfi^vourable. 
But I have since lighted on a solution. In vol. xxix of the Jour, of the B.G.S. 
p. 30, Capt. Burton mentions that the Arabs having in latter times con- 
fined the name of Zaigibar to the island and city now so called, they 
generally distinguish the mainland as Par-e2-MoLi, or " Continent," in 



AND THS INDIAN AfiCHIPELAGO. 519 

opposition to Kisiwa " Island." And below he adds, " The word MoU 
commonlj used in the oorrapt Axabic of Zanjibar, will vainly be sought 
in the Dictionariee." Mul^ava then is Jaya of the Main. 

It is tnie that in the only other place where I have been able to find 
this name ased» a passage quoted by I^Ohsson from the Mongol Histoiy 
in the Persian language, called Tar{kh^W€u$<rf, it is stated that in 1292 
Kublai Khan conquered "the Island of Mul-Java/' which is described as 
lying in the direction of India, and as having a length of 200 fiursangs, 
and a breadth of 100. It is added that the sovereign of this country, Sri 
Soma by name, died on his way to pay homage to Eublai, but his son 
arrived, and was well received, obtaining the confirmation of his govern- 
ment on condition of rendering a tribute of gold and pearls (lyOhsson, 
ii, 466). As regards the use of the word island here, it is to be remem- 
bered that the Arabs used the wood Jaefrah also for a peninsula, as 
we have already had occasion to observe. Thus Abulfeda calls the Spanish 
Peninsula Jaairat^UAndalus^ and Ibn Jubair applies the plural Janavr 
to what we by a kind of analogy call the Two Sicilies (fiemoMd^s Ahulfeda, 
ii, 234; Jovtr. Asiat., Jan., 1846, p. 224 ; see also Qildemeiaier, p. 59). Let 
it be remembered also that the terms Jotoo, Jawi, with the Arabs were ap- 
plied not merely to the specific islands of Java and Sumatra, but ''to the 
whole Archipelago, its language, and inhabitants" {CraMofwrd's Diet, of I. 
Islands, p. 166). To what region then would the fiill application Jassirah 
Ifttl Jdwa, or " Peninsula of Java of the Main," A^pply bo aptly as to what 
we call the Malay Peninsula, which, I may observe, Crawftird in all his 
works on the Archipelago treats as essentially part of that region P And 
turning to the fragments of hazy history preserved by the Malays, we 
find as one of the esf ly kings over the Malay or Javanese settlers in the 
peninsula, 8&i Bama Viknuna. The reign of this king indeed, according 
to Lassen's interpretation of the chronology, is placed 1301-1814, some 
years too late for the date in Waesaf, but the Malay dates are very uncer- 
tain (see Lassen, iv, 642; and Crav)fwrd, o. c. 248). I have little doubt, 
then, that the Peninsula was the Mul-Java of the two authors, though 
possibly the extension of the name towards Siam and Cambodia may not 
have been very exactly limited, for we know from Debarroe that the king 
of Siam daxmed sovereignty over the Peninsula even to Singapore, and it 
may still have been in the former quarter that Ibn Batuta landed. Even if 
t>iia be not admissible, I may remark that we know little now of the eastern 
coast of the Peninsula or regarding the degree of civilisation to which it 
may have attained in former days. The elephant, however, abounds in 
its northern forests, and is still commonly domesticated. The aloes- wood 
also is found there, though lower in repute than that of Cambodia (see 
Croiq/urd in w. SUpkafid and AgUa). 

At p. 469 1 have quoted from Abulfeda a slight indication of the posi- 
tion of Kumira, which Ibn Batuta represents to have been a city belong- 
ing to Mul-Jaya, aa at the northern end of the Malay Peninsula. It may 
however have been on the other side of the Gulf of Siam, and in that 
case it is possible that the name may be connected with Khmer, the 
andent native name of the kingdom of Cambodia (see Pallegoiat Des, du 
Royawne Thai ou Siam, i, 29, and Mouhofs Travels, i, 278). 



520 TBATEL8 OF IBN fiATUTA IN BENGAL^ CHINA, 



NOTE G. (See page 477.) 
ON THE TAWALISI OF IBN BATUTA. 



ThiB TawdUMi ie a great difficulty. The French tnmslatoni saj, " The 
Isle of CelebcB, or rather porhi^ Tonkin ; " Dulaurier, " The ooast of 
Cambcga, Cochin-China., or Tonkin ; " Lassen, " By this name no place 
can be meant bnt Tonkin ; " whilst Walckenaer identifies it with Tawal, 
a small isLind adyoining Bachian, one of the Moloocas. This last sog- 
gestion seems to have been based on the name only, and all have been 
made in connection with the assomption that the Mol-Jawa of oar aothor 
is JaTa> which we have seen that it cannot be. 

It seems to me impossible that Tawalisi shoold be Cambodia* Cochin- 
China, or Tonking, for two condosive reasons : (1) that the voyage from 
Mol-Jawa to Tawalisi oocopies seventy-one days, and is consideied by 
oor traveller's shipmates an onosoally good passage; (2) that the last 
thirty-seven days of this time are spent on the passage of the BeLhr-al'KdhU, 
distorbed by neither winds nor waves, a character which in this case we 
shoold have to attach to the China Sea, the veiy metropolis of 
Typhoons. 

Bot I do not find it easy to get beyond a negative. Indeed, considering 
that KiUa-Karai is the real name of a port in Sooth India, and that Urdvja 
is a name which oor aothor in a former part of his travels has assigned to 
one of the Qoeens of Mahomed Uzbek Khan on the Wolga, and has ex- 
plained to mean in Torkish 'Bom in the Camp,' whilst the Lady of Tawalisi 
herself is made to speak not only to the traveller bot to her own servants 
a miztore of Torkish and Persian, a faint sospidon rises that Tawalisi is 
really to be looked for in that part of the atlas which contains the Marine 
Sorveys of the late Captain GoUiver. 

Potting aside this sospioion, no soggestion seems on the whole more 
probable than that TawaUsi was the kingdom of Soolo or Suldk, N.E. of 
Borneo. "Owing to some caose or other," says Crawford, "there has 
sprong op in Soolo a dvilisation and power far exceeding those of the 
sorroonding islanders. A soperior fertility of the soil, and better means 
of maintaining a nomeroos and concentrated popolation, has probably 
been the main caose of this soperiority ; bot whatever be the caose, it has 
enabled this people not only to maintain a paramoont aothority over the 
whole Archipelago (i. «. the so-called Soolo Archipelago), bot to extend it 
to Palawan and to the northern coasts of Borneo and islands adjacent to 
it." Adopting this view, we shoold have the Bahr-dl-Kahil in the sea be- 
tween Java Borneo and Celebes, where horricanes are onknown, and 
stormy weather is rare. And, the time mentioned by Ibn Batota, if wo 
soppose it occopied in the voyage from the opper part of the Golf of 



AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 521 

Suun through the Java Sea and Straits of Macaesar to Soolo, a distance 
of some 2,200 nautical miles, over a great part of which the ship had to be 
towed, would seem much less improbable than if the course were to 
Cochin-China or Tonkin. The naval power of Tawalisi is one of the most 
prominent features in the narrative, and the Soolo people have been 
noted throughout the seas of the Archipelago for the daring exploits of 
their piratical fleets from our earliest acquaintance with those regions. 
It would seem also from Ibn Batuta's expression, " the load of two ele- 
phants in rice," that elephants were used in Tawaliri. Now the elephant 
is alleged by Dalxymple to exist in Soolo, and though Crawford doubts the 
fiust, there seems no sufficient reason for his doubts. It is known, more- 
over, to exist in the adjoining part of Borneo, which may have belonged 
to Soolo then as it does now, and though not used now it was found in a 
domesticated state at Brunei by Magellan's party in 1521. These are the 
only portions of the Archipelago east of Sumatra in which the elephant is 
known. 

However, I by no means put forth this hypothesis with any gpreat con- 
fidence. The statement that the Sovereign was the equal of the King of 
China would certainly be preposterous ; but so it would in almost any 
conceivable identification of Tawalisi, unless we take it for Japan. To 
this there are oljections still more serious. 

I suspect this kingdom of Soolo, or 8-&Uik, as the Malays call it, may be 
also the Lohae of Marco Polo which has so much troubled commentators 
(iii, 7). This was an extensive region, lying 600 miles south-east of Son- 
dur and Condur (Pulo Condore), inhabited by pagans, with a language 
of their own, under a king tributary to no one, being in a very inaccessible 
position, producing much brazil-wood and great abundance of gold, hav- 
ing elephants in its forests, and supplying all the east with porcelains or 
cowry-shells for currency. The position answers to that of Soolo with fair 
accuracy ; cowries are said to be found in quantities there only of all the 
Indian islands ; the elephant, as we have seen, ia reported to exist there, 
and certainly does exist in the adjoining territory of Borneo, belongring to 
Soolo ; its "mnch gold " is spoken of by Barbosa. Pauthier, indeed, in 
his new edition of Polo from ancient French MSS. reads Soucat instead of 
Lohac, and identifies it with S^tkadana, on the S.W. of Borneo. But 
neither elephants nor cowries appear to be found in that part of Borneo ; 
and as the native name of Soolo is Sug, that may have been the name in- 
dicated, if Soucat be the right reading. Let me add, however, that Soolo 
is said to have been at one time subject to Sukadana, and this circum- 
stance might perhaps help to reconcile Pauthier's suggestion with the 
fiicts. 

Confining ourselves to the indications afforded by the names as given 
by Ibn Batuta» besides the Tawal of Walckenaer we have (as noticed at 
p. 90) a place marked as Talysian, on the east coast of Borneo, and one 
of the chief Soloo islands called Tawi-iawi, As regards KaUukari, the 
AUas of Mercator and Hondius shows on the west coast of Celebes a place 
called Cwri-curi, which may perhaps be the same that we now find as 
JTaili, a district carrying on a good deal of trade with Singapore, Java, 
etc. There is also a place called Kalakah, on the north-eastern coast of 



522 TRAVELS or IBN BATUTA IM BENGAL, CHINA, 

Borneo. The port of Tawalui is called ZoikUw in Lee's Tersioti, but no 
importance can be attached to this. >(8ee Crmi/wrd'fl Did. X«id. Itlcmds, 
Articles, Socio, Elq^haaU^KtMi, Cowry; ditto Malay J>Mi. p.72; Poufibisr't 
Polo, p. 668). 

We should not omit to call attentum to* ceitain reaenblaace betveen 
the 2Vii0cUMi of oar anther and the Tkalamoiin of Odoao. 



NOTE H. (See page 510.) 

BEGABDIKG THE HISTOBY OF rTHE KHANS OF CHAGATAI. 

In this passage Ibn Batata appears to speak of Trukestan and Mft- 
wandnahr as separate kingdoms. Whether he so intends or not it is 
the case that the Ghaoatai or Middle Empire of the Mongols was by this 
time divided ; and as I know no book that contains a coherent sketch of 
the course of events in that empire, I will here put together what I have 
gathered from such scattered sonroes as are accessible. 

The tract assigned by Chinghis, in the distribntion of his provinces, 
to his son Chagatai, embraced Mawaralnahr and x>art of Khwarizm, the 
Uigur comitry, Kashgar, Badakhshan, Balkh, and the province of Ghasni 
to the banks of the Sindh;' or in modem geogn^hy, the kingdoms of 
Independent Tartary with the exception of Khiva or the greater part of 
it, the country under the Usbeks of Kunduz, Afghanistan, and the west- 
em and northern portions of Chinese Turkestan, including Dsungaria. 
Bishbaiik, north of the Thianshan, was at first the head quarters of the 
Khans, but it was afterwards transferred to Almalik.' 



^ Defir^mory'a Extracts from Khondemiir in Journal AgiaMque, ser. iv, 
tom. xix, pp. 68 Beqq. 

^ As early as the time of Chaeatai himself, however, his summer canm was 
in the vicinity of Almalik. And when Hulagu was on the march from Kara- 
korum to destroy the Assassins (a.d. 1254) the Princess Regent Organah, 
widow of Kara Hulaf^ grandson and successor of Cha^tai, came out 
from Almalik to receive him with due honour. Hence it would iq^pear 
that Almalik was one at least of the capitals from a very early date. In 
the following century, about 1830-34, we find Ibn Batuta observing that 
it was the proper capital of the kings of this dynasty, and that one of the 
chaijges Ivouffht against the Khan Tarmashfrin, which led to his super- 
session, was tiiat he always remained in Mawarahiahr, and for four years 
running had not vidted Almalik and the eastern dominions of his family. 
In the time of the immediate successors of Tarmashirin alao, when 
Almalik was visited by the Archbishop Nicolas (about 1335-6), and by 
MarignolH (1841), it appears to have been the residence of the sovereigns 
of Chagatai (Quatromirt^B Baahid., p. 146 ; Ibn Bat^ iii* 41 ; tupra, pp. 
172, 388). 

It was during the government of the abovementioned Organah that 
Bubmquis pasMd through the country, and probably what he states of 
the region being called Organum originated in some misapprehension of 
this (see Bubr., p. 281). 



Ain> THX INDIAN AfiCHIPELAQO. 523 

In the tpaoe of about one hundred and twenty yean no less than tiiirty 
deeoendants or kinsmen of Chagatai are counted to have oocupied his 
throne, and indeed revolutions, depositions, murders, and usurpations 
seem to have suooeeded each other with a frequenoy unusual even in 
ktnakMK goremments.! 

At an early date however in the history of the dynasty, the daims of 
Kaida to the Supreme Kaanship, of which Kublai had effSeotive possession, 
seem to have led to a partition of the Chagatai tetritoiy. For Eaadu, 
who was of the lineage of Okkodai,' not of Chagatai, whilst claiming in 
the higher character of Supreme TThakan to exeroiae superiority over the 
apanage of Chagatai and to nominate its proper khans, held also under 
his own immediate sway a large ftact, the greater part of which belonged 
^iparentiy to the former apanage as originally constituted. It is not 
very dear what were the limits between Eaidu's territozy and that of the 
Chagatai Khans, and indeed the two must have been somewhat inter- 
looked, Ibr Kaidn and Borak Chan of Chagatai- at one time exercised a 
sort of joint sovereignty in the cities of Bokhara and Samarkand. But 
it may be gathered that Eaidu's dominions included Kashgar and Tar- 
kand, and all the cities bordering the south side of the Thian Shan as fiur 
east as Karakhcja^ as well as the valley of the Talas river, and all the 
oonntzy north^f the Thian Than from Lake Balkash eastward to the 
Chagan Kur, and in the further north between the Upper Tenisei and 
the Irtish.' Khotan appears to have belonged to the Great Kaan, but 
Borak Kaan got poesession of it in the beginning of his reign, and I do 
not know if it was recovered by Kublai,^ or if it passed into the hands of 
Kaidn. 

Ihiring a great part of Kaidu's struggles he found a staunch aUy in 
Dua the son of Borak, whom he had set upon the throne of Chagatai in 
1272.* After Kaidu's death in 1301, his son and successor Shabar joined 
with Dua in making submission to Timur the successor of Kublai ; but 
before long, the two former princes having quarrelled, Dua seized the 
territory of Shabar, and thus substantially reunited the whole of the 
original apanage of Chagatai, as it had been before the schism of Kaidu.* 

This state of things does not appear however to have endured long; for 



1 See for example at p. 180 nipra, where some obscure points in the 
chronology of thoee kinss have already been discussed. 

' fie was son of Kashi, son of Okkodai. 

> See ]yOh$9<m, ii, 361, 460-2, 616 ; iii, 427 ; NoHeea «< ExkuiU, xiv, 224; 
Polo in Pauthier^B ed. and notes, pp. 187, 168, 241, 268, 716 et weqq,, also 
the Tendon of a Chinese sketch of iUia under the Mongols on the Map at 
the end <^ that work. Khondemir appears to have written the Histonr of 
Kaidn, whidi would I presume throw exactor light upon the limits of his 
dominions. But this does not seem to have been translated (see De- 
fr^mery, op. dt., p. 267). 

* D^imtiry, op. dt., p. 260. Maioo says of Khotan, *' lis sent au grand 
Kaan" {Pw^Mvr, ViX). 

* So iyOhuo%. Khondemir puts Dua's accession in 1291, but notices 
that other accounts gave a diiferent statement (D^^mtfry, p. 266). 

« lyOhsMon, u, 618 Mq, 



524 TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA IN BBNOAL^ CBINA^ 

within a few years a new Bchism took place, of which the history is very 
obsoore. 

The people of Eastern Turkestan and the other regions in that direction 
which had been subject to Eaidn, probably preferred to be under a separate 
rule from that of Transoziana ; for we are told by Abolghaxi* that the 
people of Eashgar and Tarkand, the inhabitants of the AJatagh and the 
Uigors, " finding none of the posterity of Chagatai (qn. Okkodai P) among 
them to fill the vacant throne/' called to be their Khan Imil S[hwi^a the 
son of Doa Khan.- This prince was succeeded in 1347 by his son Tughlak 
Timnr. Thus was established a new Scutem branch of the Cha^tai 
dynasty. 

The kingdom so formed was that wfiioh is known to the Persian his- 
torians of Timur and his] successors as MogoUstan (not to be confounded 
with the true Mongolia to the eastward)* or the 171 us of Jatah (or in 
French spelling Dj^ieh, the G^te country of Petis de la Croix). Their 
winter capital was perhaps originally at Kashgar or Yarkand, and after- 
wards at Aksu« and their summer quarters north of the Thian Shan.* In 
the history of Timur who took the royal residence in 1389 it is called 
Atxiti. QvjaJ This is perhaps the Imil, on the banks of the river so 
called fiowing into Lake Ala-Kul, which was the original capital of the 
TChitaTi refugees who founded the empire of Kara-kitai (mpra, p. ITS), 
and which John de Piano Oarpini on his journey to the court of Euyuk 
Khan names as Omyl. It is perhaps represented at the present day, as 
D'Avesac suggests, by the Chinese frontier town of Chuguchak or Tar- 
bogotai.* It is difficult howerer to understand such a disposition of the 
frontier between the two branches of the Chagatai empire as should hare 
permitted the capital of that one which ruled over Kashgar and Uiguria 
to be in the site just indicated, whilst that of the other branch ruling 
over Mawaralnahr was situated at Almalik. If the site assigned to Aymul 
be correct, probably it was not the head quarters of the eastern branch 



* Cited in the Universal History (Ft. Trans.) tom. xvii, 619 seqq. 
Deguignes, i, 289. 

s As the histoiy is given by Abul Ghazi, this Imil Khwi\ja is identical 
with that son of Dua who succeeded to the throne of Chagatai under the 
name of Isanbuga Khan in 1309 ; and the story as told would seem to 
imply that he ^ave up reigning in Transoxiana to reign in Eastern Tur- 
kestan. If this be true, the establishment of this schism must have 
occurred some time before 1321, as Gabak or Kapak, the successor of 
Isanbuga on the throne of Chagatai, died in that year, the date of his 
accession not being recorded. According to Elhondemir, however, Isan- 
buga reigned over Chagatai till his death, and Imil Khw%ja would seem 
to be a brother (see D^firimery, pp. 270 and 280). 

* See Russians in Central Asia, p. 69. 

* In H.de Timur Bee by Petis de la Ctoub, voL ii ; also in the Univ. Hist. 
as above, p. 622 seqq. 

* I/Avesae, Not. sur les andens Voyages en Tartaric, etc., in Bee. de 
Voyages, iv, 616. The capital of Kara Ejiitai when at the height of its 
power was Bcda 8agun. I cannot ascertain the proper position of this ; 
but it was, I believe, difi^erent from Imil, and lay between Bishbalik and 
Kara Korum. 



AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 525 

till the western branch of Chagatai in its rapid decay had lost its hold on 
the Yalley of the Hi. 

Kasan Khan> slain in 1346 or 1348, was the last effective Kbta, of the 
main branch of Chagatai. After his time the titular Khans were mere 
pappete in the hands of the g^reat Amirs, who set them up one year and 
probably murdered them the next. And so things continned until one of 
thooe Amirs, the £unous TixuB, became predominant. Even he in the 
height of his conquests continued to maintain titular successors to the 
throne of Chagatai, and to put their names at the head of State papers. 
Saltan Mahomed Khan, the last of these, died on one of Timur's cam- 
paigns in Anatolia, in 1403.^ 

In 1360, and again in 1361-62, whilst Mawaralnahr was in the state of 
anarchy to which we hare alluded, Tughlak Timur invaded and subdued 
the country, leaving on the second occasion his son Ellas Khw%ja as his 
repretfentatlTe at Samarkand. Thus the whole empire woiild seem again 
to have been united ; but it was only for a brief space. For in 1363-64, 
abomt the time of the death of Tughlak Timur, the amirs Husain and 
Timur revolted and expelled Elias. He escaped to his paternal dominions, 
but some time afterwards his life was taken by Kamaruddin Dughlak, of 
a powerful fionily which about this time became hereditary rulers of 
Kashgar. He seized the khanate, and put to death all the other children 
of Tughlak Timur on whom he could lay hands. 

At a date which is uncertain, but probably about 1383,. Khizr Khw%ja^ 
a son of Tughlak Timur, whose life had been rescued in in&ncy by the 
exertions of Ehud6id&d, son of Eamaruddin's brother Bul%ji, the Amir of 
Kashgar, waa through the same good offices seated on the throne of 
Mogolistan (or Eastern Chagatai), and he was its sovereign when Timur 
made his crushing campaign against the people of that country in 1389« 
taking the capital, and driving the Khan out of his dominions. Peace, 
however, was made eventually, and Timur married a daughter of Khizr 
Khw%ja.' 

The latter at his death was succeeded by his son Mahomed Khan, and 
he by his grandson Wais or Awis Khan.' This prince, who throughout 
his reign was engaged in constant and unsuccessftd wars with the Kal- 
maks, his eastern neighbours, at his death left two sons, Isanbnga and 
Tunus, each of whom was backed by a party in olaiming the succession. 
Those who flavoured Yunus took him to Mirza Ulugh Beg, the g^^andson of 
Timur (the celebrated astronomer prince), then governing at Samarkand, 
to seek his support ; but he refiised this, and sent Yunus oiF into Western 



> UiUv. Hi$i., U.S. i D^hMry, p. 281-2. Degni^es says it was not till 
after Timur's death that khans ceased to be nommated. 

< DefrhMfry, p. 288 ; XJniv, Hist, u. s. ; NoUeet et Emtrait$, xiv, p. 474, 
$eqq. 

s The extract fix>m Hc^ Iklim in the Not. et Ext. just quoted mentions 
a Shir Mahomed between Mahomed and Awis. Awis Ehan is noticed 
apparently as the reigning chief, and at war with a Shir Mahomed Ofldan, 
in the narrative of Sudi Bukh's embassy to China (NoU, §t Jffci. xiv, Ft. i, 
p. 388). 



526 TRAVELS OF IBN BATTJTA IK BINOAL, STC. 



Perna* where he remainad in exile for eighteen yean. When MixBa Abn- 
said of the house of Timur (1461-1468) had eetabliahed himeelf at Sa- 
markand, iHuibiiga Khan invaded Ferghina. Aboaaid in zetaliation 
Bent for the exiled TnnoB, conferred on him the Khanate of Hogoliatao, 
and dispatched him with an army into that coontiy, where he succeeded 
in eetabtishing himself.* Daring his reign a nnmerona army of Kaiinaks 
entered his territory. Ynnos, in attempting to resist them, was com- 
pletely defeated, with the loss of most of his amirs, and fled with the 
remains of his army to the Jaxartes. Here he seems to have established 
the relics of his aathority at Tsahkand, and at the same jdaoe his son and 
successor Mahmud, called by the MongoLi Janikah, was crowned. It 
would appear that Yunns left behind another son, Ahmed, in Mogoliatan, 
where he maintained himself for a time. Eventually both these brothers 
fell into the hands of Mahomed Khan Shaibani, otherwise caUed Shaibek, 
the founder of the Usbek power in Transoxiana, and Mahomed was in the 
end put to death by that chief. I can trace no information regarding 
later Chagatai Khans ; indeed I presume that the Kalmaka about this 
time took possession of the country north of the Thian Shan, and that the 
line of Khans survived no longer as such. A son of Ahmed however suc- 
ceeded in founding a dynasty in Kashgar, which maintained itself on 
the throne there for more than a century and a hall' 



* D^Anery^vp. 284-5. According to a quotation of Quairtmire^a from 
Haidar Basi, xunus Khan did not mount the throne till ▲. b. 873:=1468, 
the last year of Abu Said (Joum. de$ Savam for 1839, p. 24). 

* See Introduction to the Journey of QoSa, infra. Deguignes says he 
had not been able to obtain sny distinct infonnation as to the rise of the 
power of the Kalmaks ; nor can I find it in any later book within reach. 



VII. 

THE JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES FROM 

AGRA TO CATHAY. 



i 



I 



^ 



VII. 

THE JOURNEY OP BENEDICT GOES FROM AGRA 

TO CATHAY, 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 



The ta»veller whom we are now aboat to foUow over one of the 
most daring jonmeys in the whole history of discovery, belongs 
to a veiy di£Eerent period from those who have preceded him in 
this collection. Since the curtain fell on Ibn Batuta's wanderings 
two hundred and fifty years have passed away. After long sus- 
pension of intercourse with Eastern Asia, the rapid series of dis- 
coveries and re-discoveries that followed the successful voyage of 
De Gama have brought India, the Archipelago, China, and Japan 
into immediate communication with Europe by sea ; the Jesuits 
have entered on the arena of the forgotten missions of the Fran- 
ciscans, and have rapidly spread their organisation over the east, 
and to the very heart of each great eastern empire, to the courts of 
Agra, Peking, and Miako. Cathay has not been altogether for- 
gotten in Europe, as many bold English enterprises by sea, and 
some by land, during the sixteenth century, testify ; but to those 
actually engaged in the labours of commerce and religion in the 
Indies it remains probably but as a name connected with the 
fables of Italian poets, or with the tales deemed nearly as fabulous 
of old romancing travellers. The intelligence of the accomplished 
men, indeed, who formed the Jesuit forelom in Northern China, 
soon led them to identify the great empire in which they were 
labouring, with that Cathay of which their countrjman Marco had 

84 




530 JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES. 

told sach wonders ; bat this conviction had not spread to their 
brethren in India, and when the leaders of the Mission at the 
Coart of Akbar heard from Mosalman travellers of a great and 
rich empire called Khitai, to be reached bj a long and devious 
coarse throagh the heart of Inner Asia, the idea seized their 
imaginations that here was an ample and yet nntonched field 
awaiting the laboars of the Society, if the way coald bat be fonnd 
open ; and this way they determined to explore. 

The person selected for this ventaresome exploration was 
Benedict Ooes.^ Before he started on his jonmey donbts had 
been snggested whether this Cathay were not indeed the very 
China in which Ricci and his companions were already labonring 
with some promise of sacoess ; bat these donbts were overruled, 
or at least the leader of the Agra Mission was not convinced by 
them, and he prevailed on his saperiors still to sanction the ex- 
ploration that had been proposed. 

The gallant soldier of the Society, one not nnworthy to bear 
the Name on which others of that Company's deeds and modes of 
action have brought sach obloqay, carried throagh his ardaons 
task; ascertained that the mysterions empire he had sought 
throagh rare hardships and perils was China indeed ; and 
died just within its borders. ** Seeking Cathay he found 
heaven," as one of his brethren has pronoanced his epitaph. 
And thus it is that we have thoaght his joamey a fitting close to 
this collection ; for with its termination Cathat may be considered 
finally to disappear from view, leaving China only in the mouths 
and minds of men. Not bat that Cathay .will be foimd for some 
time longer to retain its place as a distinct region in some maps 

^ The information xegarcUng Gofis, in addition to' what ia gathered from 
the narratiye of his journey, ia fbnushed by Jarrie, whose work I have seen 
only in the Latin translation entitled " B, P. larrici Tholosani, Societai, 
Jeiu, TKe$auruM Berum Indicarum, etc., a MaHhia Martinea a Oallieo in 
Laiimim aenmonem tran$laium; GoloniflD AgrippinsB, 1615." In the two 
oopies that I have seen <^ this book (poesib^ therefore in all oopies) there 
has been strange confusion made in binding the sheets. It consists of 
four volumes, numbered i, ii, iii, pt. 1 ; iii, pt. 2 ; and in each of three 
volumes out of these four are introduced numerous sheets belonging to 
the other two. The information regarding Go€s is in vol. ii, pp. 680 Mqq. ; 
and in vol. iii. pt. 1, pp. 201 aeqq. 



INTBODUCTOEY NOTICB. 531 

and geographical works of pretension, bufc &om that time its ap- 
pearance could only condemn the ignorance of the anthers. 

Benedict Goes was bom at Yilla Franca, in the island of St. 
Michael (Azores), about 1561. I find no partLColars of his rank 
in life or earlj hisiozy, nor any statement of the circumstances 
nnder which he originallj went to India, but in his twenty-sixth 
year we first meet him as a soldier on board the Portuguese fleet 
on the coast of Travancore, a high-spirited and pleajBure-loving 
young man. The dignity and culture of his character, as it shows 
in later life, seems to imply that he had been educated for a 
higher position than that of a common soldier ; and it is probable 
th&t, like many a wild youth since, he had enlisted for the Indies 
in ooDseqnence of some youthful escapade. Happening, we are ' 
told, to enter a church near Coleohea,^ and kneeling before an 
image of the Madonna and Child, he began to reflect seriously 
on his past life, and was seized with such remorse that he almost 
despaired of salvation. This spiritual crisis ended in his making 
full confession of his sins to a Jesuit priest, and eyentually in his 
entering the Order as a lay coadjutor. This position he held for 
tike rest of his career, always modestly reftudng to take orders, 
though ofben pressed to do so by his superiors in the Sodiety. 

In the end of 1594 a detachment pf missionaries was sent to 
the Court of Akbar, at the request of the great king himself, 
whose oscillating convictions appeajr often to have been strong in 
favour of Christianity.' The head of the mission was Jerome 

1 KoUehi, a small port of Travanoore, which Fra Faolmo will have to be 
the Colehi of the Fesiplaa. It has dropt out of our modem maps. 

• The inquiries of Akbar about Christianity dated fix>m the visit of 
Antony Capral, whom he received as envoy firom Qua in 1578. Hearing 
then of a Christian priest of eminent virtue in Bengal, he sent for him to 
Futtehpur Sikri (which Jamc calls Pai^la), and made him argue with 
the MuUahs. Moved by what this anonymous £fither said, the king 
wrote to Qoa, begging that two members of the Jesuit Society might be 
sent to him with Christian books. This of course caused great delight 
and excitement, and the Provincial sent off Budolf Aquaviva,, a man of 
illustrious family (afterwards murdered by the natives of Salsette near 
Qoa), and Antony Monserrat. They were most honourably received by 
Akbar, and great hopes of his conversion were raised. The celebrated 
Abol Fazl and other eminent men of the Court also showed great 
interest in the subject; but nothing material resulted. Some years 



532 JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES. 

Xavier of Navarre, nephew of the great Francis, and his comrades 
were Goes and the priest Emannel Pinner, also a Portngaese. 
They proceeded first to Cambat, where they were well received by 
Snltan Murad, Akbar*s second son, and provided with carriage 
and money for their jonmey to Lahore, where the Padshah then 
held his conrt. Travelling with a Kafila by Ahmedabad and 
Pattan, and then across the great Indian Desert, they reached 
Lahore on the 5th May, 1595, and were made most welcome by 
Akbar, who at the same time gladdened their hearts by his dis- 
play of reverence to images of the Savionr and the Virgin Mary^ 
the gifb of a former missionary at his court. 

Goes appearsr to have acquired the esteem of the king in an 
especial degree, and with Xavier accompanied him on his summer 
journey to Elashmir. One Christmas too, we are told. Goes con- 
structed a model of the manger and stable of Bethlehem, after 
the &shion still kept up in Southern Europe, whilst some of the 
pupils of the mission acted a Pastoral Eclogue in the Persian 
tongue on the subject of the Nativity, things that greatly pleased 
both Musulmans and Hindus, but especially the latter. 

Whilst the Court was still at Lahore (which Akbar quitted for 
Agra in 1598) the circumstance occurred which turned the atten- 
tion of Jerome Xavier to the long-lost Cathay (as he fancied it), 
and excited his imagination in the manner already alluded io. 
This circumstance is thus related by Jarric : — 

*' One day as Xavier was at the palace and engaged with the 

afberwarde, in 1590, Akbar's thong^hts again turned to Christianity, and 
at this time, aooording to the statement of the Jesuits (I know not how 
far well founded), he ordered a general destruction of mosques and mina- 
rets, and forbade circumcision before the fifteenth year. He again 
applied for instructors, and in 1691 three brethren were sent to Lahore, 
but after a while, seeing no hope of good, they returned to GkML Hence 
on this third occasion the mission was despatched without any great 
alacrity or sangaine expectations. It is probable that Akbar had arrived at 
no decided convictions in religion, excepting as to the r^ection of Mahome- 
danism. He seems to have projected a new eclectic kind of Theism, in 
which adoration was to be addressed to the sun, as an emblem of the 
Creator. At the same time he never seems to have lost a certain hank- 
ering after Christianity, or ceased to display an affectionate reverence 
for the Christian emblems which he had received from his Jesuit 
teachers. 



INTEODUCTOEY NOTICE. 533 

king, there presented himself a Mahomedan merchant of some 
Bixtj years of age. After he had made his salutations to the king, 
in answer to a question whence he was come, he said that he was 
lately arrived from the kingdom of Xetaia. This Xavier sup- 
posed to be the same as the Cathay spoken of by Marco Polo the 
Venetian in his Travels, and by Hayton the Armenian in his 
History, and which later writers have determined to be in Tartary, 
or not far from it. And when the king inquired for further par- 
ticulars about that empire, and as to the length of the merchant's 
residence there, he replied that he had been thirteen years at the 
metropolis of the country, which he called Kambalu. . . . This he 
said was the residence of the kings, who were most powerftil 
sovereigns. For, indeed, their empire included one thousand five 
hundred cities ; some of them immensely populous. He had 
often seen the king, and it was his practice never to give any 
reply, favourable or unfavourable, to a request, but through the 
eunuchs who stood by him, unless, indeed, he was addressed in 
writing. King Akbar asking how he had got admission into the 
empire, he replied that it was under the character of an ambassador 
from the Eang of Cay gar (Kashoab). On arriving at' the 
frontier he was detained by the local governor, who after 
inspecting the seals of the letters which he carried, sent off a 
despatch to the king by swift horse-post. The answer giving 
permission for the party to proceed came back within a month. 
In going on to the capital they changed horses at every stage, as 
is practised in Europe, and thus got speedily over the ground, 
although the distance is very great ; for they accomplished one 
hundred Italian miles every day. On the whole journey they met 
with no afiront or unfair treatment, for the local judges adminis- 
tered justice to all, and thieves were punished with great -severity. 
When asked about the aspect of the natives, he said that they 
were the whitest people he had ever seen, whiter even than the 
"Rumisj or Europeans. Most of the men cherished a long beard. 
• . . The greater number were IsauUes, i,e. Christians (for thus 
Christians are called after Jesus, just as if you were to say Jesuits !) 
When asked if they were all Isauites, he said, by no means, for 
there are many Mussauites (i.n. Jews, for Moses in the tongue of 



534 JOUBNKT OF BXNEDICT GOKS. 

those people is called Aftwfou), and there are also some Maho- 
xnedans. But is the king a MahomedanP asked Akbor. Xot 
yet, said the merchant, but it is hoped that he will soon be so. 
The colloquy was then interrupted, the soTereign graciouslj 
naming another day for the reception of the merchant, in order 
to ask further questions about this empire. But Xavier getting 
impatient, out of eagerness to learn more, went to see the mer- 
chant in order to get more precise information about the religion 
of the inhabitants. The merchant repeated his statement that 
they were, for the most part, Christiana, and that he had been on 
terms of great intimacy with seyeral of them. They had temples, 
some of them of vast size, in which were images both painted 
and sculptured, and among others fig^ures of the crucified Saviour, 
which were held by them in great reverence. A priest was set 
over every temple, who was treated with great respect by the 
people, and received presents from them. . . . He also mentioned 
the continence of those priests, and the schools in which they 
brought up young people for holy orders. . . . The fathers more- 
over wore black frocks, and caps like Xavier's, only a little bigger. 
In saluting any one by the way they did not uncover, but joined 
hands across the breast, interlacing the fingers. . . . The king 
often went to the temples, and must, therefore, be a Christian," 
6uC*, ecc. 

Xavier lost no time in communicating this intelligence to the 
Provincial of his Order ; and after arriving with the king at Agra 
sent the results of further inquiry made there fi:«m persons who 
had been to Cathay. Some people alleged that there was a way 
to Cathay by Bengal and the kingdom of Gabaohat,^ at the ex* 

1 Ohoraghat {" the hone-ferry") is a town and semindari in the Bogra 
district of Bengal, and is mentioned as such in the Ayin Akbari. Bat the 
kingdom alluded to mast be that of K^h Bihdr, which in the time of 
Akbar retained independence, and extended from the Brahmaputra west- 
ward to Tirhat, from the Himalya south to Ghoraghat. In 1661 it was 
conquered by Mir Jumla (see Hamilton's Chuetteer, in w, Ohoraghat and 
Cooeh Ddhar), Kuch Bihar still exists, with a modified independence, 
and vety much restricted limits. It is remarkable that there should have 
been any talk of a ronte to China this way in the reign of Akbar. It 
probably lay through Lassa. We have seen (ante, p. 273) that Bashidud- 
din recognised an overland route by Bengal and the borders of Tibet. 



INTKODUCTORY NOTICB. 536 

tremity of the Mog^l ierritories. Bat merchants, who were sore 
to know the shortest routes, were in the habit of going from 
Lahore to Kashmir, and thence by the kingdom of Bbbat,^ the 
king of which was in alliance with the Mogul, they went straight 
to Kashgar, from which it was said there was a direct and easy 
rente to the first mercantile city of Cathay, a place which the 
merchants asserted to be inhabited by Christians. Xavier was 
now quite satisfied that the country in question was indeed the 
Cathay of Polo, and the Christian king the representatiye of the 
&moas Prester John. He sounded the king on the subject of an 
exploratory mission, and found him disposed to assist it cordially. 
All this was duly communicated to the Provincial, and through 
him it would appear to the higher powers in Europe. 

In 1601 the encouragement of those higher powers had been 
received in India, and the Provincial turned his attention to the 
selection of^a fit man for the expedition. Now it happened that 
Zavier and Goes had accompanied King Akbar some time pre- 
viously on his expedition into the Dekkan. After the conquest 
of Kandesh, Akbar on some pretext sent an embassy to Goa, 
partly it was supposed in order to spy out the land with a view 
to extending his conquests in that quarter. And with this 
embassy he sent Goes in charge of some children of Portuguese 
parentage who had been found in Burhanpur and other captured 
fortresses. 

In Goes the Provincial discerned the very man that he wanted ; 
his judgment, courage, and skill in Persian marking him out aa 
especially qualified for such an enterprize. Goes readily accepted 
the duty, and in the following year (1602) arrived at Agra to 
make arrangements for his journey. Akbar praised his zeal, and 
contributed the value of four hundred pieces of gold to the ex- 
penses of the journey, besides giving the passports mentioned in 
the narrative. 

And some years after Akbar's time, the two Jesoite, Qmeber and Donrille, 
fonnd their way fi^>m China via Lassa and Katmandu to Patna (Kircher, 
China lUusirata, pp. 64 nqq), 

> I do not know what the name Bebai is intended for (proper names in 
Jarric heing often sadly mangled) ; perhaps for Tibet, The kingdom in- 
tended must be either Ladakh or Balti, which were known in those days 
as Great and Little Tibet. 



636 JOURNEY OP BENEDICT GOES. 

After successfullj accomplishing his jonmej, as has been 
already mentioned, Goes was detained for some seventeen months 
at the frontier city of Sachen, and there died a few days after the 
arrival of the native Christian whom Ricci and his comrades at 
Peking had sent to his aid and comfort.^ The narrative of his 
journey was put together, apparently by Ricci himself, from some 
fragment of Benedict's note-book, along with the oral statements 
of his faithful comrade Isaac the Armenian, and was published 
after the death of Ricci, with other matter that he had compiled 
concerning China and the mission history, in the work of 
Trigautius (Trigault) entitled De Christiand Expeditions apttd 
SitUM, From this our translation has been made, but some addi* 
tional particulars given by Jarric &om the Indian reports, and 
from the letters which Qoes was occasionally during his journey 
able to send back to his superiors at Agra or Goa, have been 
brought forward in the notes. Altogether it is ^ miserably 
meagre record of a journey so interesting and important ; and 

1 Matthew Kicci was bom at Macerata, in the March of Anoona, in 
1552. He entered the Jesuit Society in 1571. Being sent to India, he 
reached Goa in 1578, but speedily left it for Macao on being choeen by 
Father Valignan, the founder of the Jesuit Mission in China, as one of 
his aids. Not till 1583, however, were they able to establish themselves 
in the Canton territory. Bicci's great object for a long time was to get 
to Peking, and he did reach it in 1595, but was obliged, by an accidental 
excitement among the Chinese, to withdraw to Nanking. In 1600, he 
was enabled to go again, carrying presents, which had come firom Eu- 
rope for the Emperor. He was admitted; and having acquired the 
Emperor's favour, he devoted himself to the mission at the capitaL Some 
striking conversions were made ; and Bicci's science and literary works 
in Chinese gained him much esteem among the most eminent persons at 
Peking. He died 11th May, 1610, leaving Adam Schall to succeed him. 
The chief literary men of the city attended his funeral. His name ap- 
pears in the Chinese annals as Li-mateu. The principles of Kicci as a 
missionary appear to have been to stretch conciliation as far as possible ; 
and to seek the respect of the educated Chinese by the display of superior 
scientific attainments. As regards the former point, he is accused of 
having led the way in those dubious concessions which kindled the dis- 
putes that ended in the downfal of the missions. He was the first Euro- 
pean to compose books in Chinese. His works of this kind were fifteen 
in number, and one of them is said to have been included in a collection 
of the best Chinese writers ordered by the Emperor EhianJung (see 
Remu3at*8 article in Biog. Universellc). 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 537 

had Benedict's diary, which he is stated to have kept 'in great 
detail, been spared, it would probably have been to this day by 
far the most valuable geographical record in any Enropean Ian- 
gaage on the subject of the countries through which he travelled, 
still so imperfectly known. 

There are some perplexities about the chronology of the journey 
as given in Trigautius, which doubtless arise out of the manner 
in which the narrative was thus compiled. It is in some respects 
inconsistent with itself as well as with the statements in Jarric. 

Thus, according to Jarric, Goes left Ag^ 31st October, 1602, 
whilst Trigautius makes it 6th January, 1603. This is not of 
importance however, as they agree substantiaUy regarding the 
time of his final start from Lahore. 

But again. The narrative in Trigautius professes to give, 
sometimes in precise, sometimes in round numbers, the intervals 
occupied by the various portions of the joamey and its tedious 
halts. But if these be added together, even without allowance 
for two or three omissions, we find that the sum carries us a 
whole year beyond the time deducible from Jarric, and in fact 
would throw Benedict's death a year later than the date which 
Trigautius himself (or rather Bicci) fixes.^ This is shown in 

> The following absolute dates are given by Trigantius: — Goes left 
Agra 6th Jannary, 1603 ; left Lahore in Lent (which in 1603 began on 
18th Febnxary); reached Yarkand November 1603; left Yarkand No- 
vember 1604 ; reached Sucheu in the latter x>art of 1605 ; his letters did 
not reach Peking till November 1606 ; John Ferdinand started 11th De- 
cember, and reached Sucheu in the end of March 1607; eleven days 
later Benedict died. 

The following absolute dates are given by Jarric : — Qoes left Agra 31st 
October, 1602; reached Lahore 8th December; left Lahore in middle of 
February 1603; wrote from Yarkand in Febmaiy and August 160i; set 
out from Yarkand 14th November, 1604; left Chalis 17th October, 1605; 
died 11th April, 1607. 

The following are the details of time occupied in the journey, as given 
by Trigautios (and full of error) : — Left Lahore in Lent [say first day of 
Lent, or 18th February], 1603 ; took to Attok thirty days, halted there 
fifteen, and across the Indus five ; to Peshawnr two months, halt there 
twenty days ; go on a time not specified, halt twenty days ; to Ghideli 
twenty-five days ; to Kabul twenty days. [This would bring him to Kabul 
on the 2nd of BeptemheTf 1603, at the earliest.^ Halts at Kabul eight 
months 'and therefore leaves it about Ist May, 1604]. To Charokar not 



538 JOUBNET OF BENEDICT OOE8. 

detaO belowi but here I tnaj explain ihafc the ehief iBconsistency 
is found in the time alleged to hare been spent between Lahore 
and Yarkand. According to Bicci's details this period extends 
from Febmiuy 1603j to November 1604, whereas both Janic'a 
data and Ricci's own dbsoltUe statement make the traveller reach 
Yarkand in November 1603, which unquestionably is the correct 
date. And as Biod's details allege a positive halt of eight monihs 
at Kabul, it is evident that there must have been some singnlar 
kind of misunderstanding either of Benedict's notes, or of Isaac's 
langoage, or of both. Isaac, it will be seen, could speak nothing 
more intelligible than Persian, and John Ferdinand, the Chinese 
convert who came to seek the party at Sucheu, could not com- 
municate with him at aU until he had himself acquired a little 
Persian. This language the missionaries at Peking probably 
knew nothing of, and it is not therefore wonderful if misunder- 
standing occurred. 

What the nature of this misunderstanding must have been, in 
some instances at least, can I think be deduced from one case in 
which the misstatement of the time is obvious. The journey 
from Attok to Peshawur is said to have occupied two months. 
Now, as the distance is about thirty miles, this is absurd. It is, 
therefore, not improbable that it may have been entered in Groes's 
notes as " ii tnensil " (Pers. mamil, a stage or march), and that 
this was understood by the Italians as '*ii meneea.** 

The chief obscurities attending the route of Gk>es, concern that 
section of his journey which lies between Kabul and Yarkand. 
In the first part of this section, embracing the passage of the 
Hindu Kush, the country is to a certain degree known, but there 

specified j to Parwan ten days, halt there five; to Ainghawm twenty; 
to Kalcha fifteen j to Jalalabad ten ; to Talikhan fifteen, halt there one 
month Iwhich hringa iw at least to the l&th AuguH, 1604]. To Cheman, 
and halt there, not specified ; Defiles of Badakshan eight days, halt ten ; 
Charchunar one day, halt five days ; to Sexpanil ten days ; to Sarchil 
twenty, halt twoi to Ghechalith two; to Tanghetar six, at least; to 
Taoonic fifteen days ; to Tarkand five days Iwhich M^agi him to Tarkand 
theirrfore an 7th November 1604 ai th§ earliest, or juet a year later than 
the tnu date^. It is not worth while to carry the matter farther, and in- 
deed the essential error is contained in that section of the journey which 
we have given here. 



INTBODUCTOKT NOTIOB. 539 

are scvend places named prominently by QtoiiB wiiieh cannot be 
identified with any certainty. This is also the case in the second 
portion of this section of the jonmey, embracing the ascent 
through Badakhshan to the Plateau of Pamer, and the descent 
to Tarkand, where moreorer we are in a country still most im- 
perfectly known; for, since Marco Polo, Gk)es is the only European 
trareller across it of whose journey any narrative has seen the 
light.i 

^ The following note from a reoent work^ called The Runnani in Central 
AHa, oouHiiting of variouB papers, tiaiudated ttcm the Bussian by Mesan. 
Michftll, flhowg that valuable xnatter> m illustzation of these regions, doet 
exist (I believe in the military archives at St. Petersburg) : — " In a pa|>er 
on the Pamir and the upper oonise of the Ozns, read last year before 
the Bossian Geographical Society by M. Yeninkhof, he says : ' The chaos 
of our geographical knowledge relating to the Pamir table-lands and the 
Bdlor was so great that the oelebrated geographer Zimmerman, working 
under the soperintendenoe of Bitter, was able to produce only a very 
coniosedand utterly incomprehensible map of this region. The connect- 
ing link was wanting; it was neoessaiy that some one should cany out 
the plan conceived by the Bnssian Government in the beginning of this 
century, by visiting and describing the countiy. Fortunately, such an 
additional source of information has been found,— nay, eten two,— -which 
mutually corroborate and amplify each other, although they have nothing 
further in common between them. I here allude to the ' IVavels through 
Upper Asia* from Kashgar, Tashbalyk, Bolor, Badakhshan, Yakhan, Kokan, 
Turkestan, to the Kirghiz Steppe, and back to Cashmere, through Samar- 
kand and Yarkand,' and to the Chinese Itinerary, translated by Klaproth in 
1821, leading from Kashgar to Yarkend, Northern Indta» Dairim, Yabtuar, 
Badakhshan, Bolor, Yakhan, and Kokan, as far as the Karatau moun- 
tains. The enumeration alone of these places must, I should imagine, 
excite the irresistible curiosity of all who have made the geography of 
Asia their study. These fresh soxurces of information are truly of the 
highest importance. As regards the 2Vavel«, it is to be inferred from 
the preface, and from certain observations in the narrative, that the au- 
thor was a €hirman, an agent of the East India Company, despatched in 
the beginning of this or the end of the last century, to purchase horses 
for the British army. The original account forms a magnificent manu- 
script work in the German language, accompanied by forty sketches of 
the countiy traversed. The text, also, has been translated into French 
in a separate manuscript, and the maps worked into one itinerary in an 
admirable style. The christian name of the traveller, George Ludwig 

von , appears over the preface, but the surname has been erased. 

Klaproth's Itinerary is so far valuable as the physical details are ex- 
tremely circumstantial; almost every mountain is laid down, and care 
taken to indicate whether it is wooded or snow-capped ; while equal care 



540 JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES. 

It is not qtdte clear which of the passes was followed by Gt>es 
in crossing the Hindu Knsh. Some account of these will be given 
in a supplementary note at the end of the narrative.^ Here I 
will content myself with observing that as the traveller is men- 
tioned to have visited Parwan as well as Gharekar, it may seem 
most probable that he crossed by the Pass of Parwan, which 
Wood attempted unsuccessfully in 1837. Indeed, if Parwan is 
correctly placed in the only map I have seen which shows it, 
(J." Walker's), it would be out of the way of a party going by 
any other Pass.' From Parwan till he reaches Talikhan on the 
borders of Badakshan, none of the names given can be positively 
determined ; Calcia and Jalalabad, the most prominent of them, 

is taken to show whether the inhabitants are nomads or a stationary 
people. BoinSj bridges, and villages are also intelligibly designated ; bo 
that although the same scale is not preserved throughout, its value, 
lucidity, and minuteness, are not thereby deteriorated.' " 

I may add to the preceding notice that Professor H. H. Wilson, in his 
remarks on Izzet Ullah's Travels (see J. B. A. S., vii, 294), mentions a 
Russian officer, Yefremoff, who was last century captured by the Kirghiz, 
but made his escape, and travelled by Kokand and Kashgar, across Tibet 
to Calcutta, and so home to St. Petersburg, where he arrived in 1782, 
and published his travels. Meyendorff, also, in his Voyc^e d'Orenbourg d 
Bokhara, speaks of the travels of Raphael Danibeg, a noble Georgian, 
which were translated from his native language into Russian, and printed 
in 1815. This gentleman travelled from Kashmir to Yarkand, Aksu, 
Ku\ja, and Semipalatinsk. The same work contains a route from Semi- 
palatinsk to Kashmir, by a T^jik of Bokhara. 

> See note I at the end. 

3 The first notice which Jarric g^ves of Goes, after mentioning his de- 
parture from Lahore, is that " after going 102 coss, each equal to an 
Italian mile, he wrote to Pinner from the province of Qazaria that he 
was struggling with severe cold on the passage over mountains covered 
with snow." The 102 coss must have been estimated from Kabul, not 
frt)m Lahore, as the passage would literally imply, and the snow moun- 
tains of Gazaria must, have been the Hindu Kush occupied by the Hazara 
tribes ; (they are called KeMureh by Meyendorff, Voyage d Bokhara, p. 140). 
At present the Hazaras, according to Wood (p. 199), do not extend 
further east than the Valley of Ghorbund ; but Leech's Report on the 
Passes shows that they are found on the passes immediately above 
Parwan, and that they formerly extended to the mountains adjoining 
the Eliawak Pass, the most easterly of all. I hope to add a sketch map 
such as will make Gocs's route, and the doubts attending it, more in- 
telligible. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 541 

are named bo far as T know by no other traveller or geographer. 
Some remarks regarding them will however be found in the notes 
on the narrative. 

From Talikhan also to the high land of Pamir we have a 
similar difficulty in identifying names except that descriptive one 
TangUi-Bcidahhsha/n (" the Straits of Badakshan") which suffi- 
ciently indicates the character of the country. But I think there 
can be little doubt that the route of Goes was substantially the same 
as that followed by Captain John Wood of the Indian Navy on his 
famous journey to the source of the Oxus. Badakhshan and the 
adjoining districts of Tokharestan, inhabited by a race of Tajik 
lineage and Persian speech, would seem in the middle ages not 
merely to have enjoyed that fame for mineral productions (espe- 
cially rubies and lapis lazuli) of which a shadow still remains, but 
at least in their lower valleys to have been vastly more populous 
and productive than they now are. The " Oriental Geography" of 
the tenth century translated by Ouseley, and Edrisi in the twelfth 
century, both speak of these as fruitful and well-peopled regions 
flourishing with trade and wealth. Marco Polo in the thirteenth 
century speaks of Talikhan and the adjoining districts in similar 
terms. Not long before his time the chief fortress of Talikhan held 
Chinghiz and his Tartar host at bay for six months.^ The savage 
conqueror left not a living soul of the garrison, nor one stone 
upon another. And the present town of Talikhan, the repre- 
sentative of the place defended by this strong and valiant 
garrison, is a paltry village of some four hundred clay hovels.^ 
Fyzabad, the chief city of Badakhshan, once famous over the 
east, was, when Wood passed through the country, to be traced 
only by the withered trees that had once adorned its gardens, and 
the present capital of the country ( Jerm) was but a cluster of 

1 I/Ohsson, i, 273. There was another Talikhan in Khorasan, between 
Balkh and Merw (see tables of Nasiruddin in Hudson, Hi, 107). And 
the authors of the Modem Universal History appear to have taken this 
for the citj besieged by Chinghiz (French TVana,, m, 366). But the nar- 
rative shows that it was Talikhan in Tokharestan, on the border of Ba- 
dakhshan. Edrisi describes both cities, bat curiously his French trans- 
lator, M. Jaabert, takes both for the same (i, 468, 476). 

* Wood, y. 24,1. 



542 JOITBNST OF BSN8DICT Q0E8. 

httmletB, eontnining Altogether aome fifteen hundred sonls.^ En- 
during decay |>robablj oommenoed with the wars of Chinghiz, 
for many an instance in eastern history shows the permanent 
effect of suoh derastations. And here ware after waye of war 
passed over a little oountiy, isolated on three aides by wild moun- 
tains and barbarous tribes, destroying the apparatus of culture 
which represented the accumulated labour of generations, and 
with it the support of civilisation and the springs of recovery. 
Century after century only saw progress in decay. Even to our 
own time the process of depopulation and deterioration has con- 
tinued. About 1760 two of the Ehwajas o£ E^shgar, escaping 
from the dominant Clynese, took refuge in Badakhahon, and 
were treacherously slain by Sultan Shah who then ruled that 
country.' The holy men are said in their dying momeakia 
to have invoked curses on Badakshan and prayed that it might 
be three times depopulated. And« in fact, since then it has been 
at least three times ravaged ; first, a few years after the outrage 
by Ahmed Shah Durani of E^abul, when the treacherous Sultan 
Shah was pnt to death ; in the beginning of this century by 
Eokan Beg of Kxmduz; and again in 1829 by his successor 
Murad Beg, who swept away the bulk of the remaining in- 
habitants, and set them down to die in the marshy plains of 
Kunduz. 

In the time of Goes the country was probably in a middle 
state, not fieJlen so low as now, but fiir below what it had been in 
days before the Tartar invasion. Akbar had at this time withdrawn 
all attempt at holding territory north of the Indian Caucasus, and 
the Uzbeks, who in the end of the fifteenth century had expelled 
the house of Timur and settled in Bokhara, seem to have been 
in partial occupation. 

Of routes over the Bolor Tagh and high table-land of Pamer 
between Badakhshan and Eashgar, the only notices accessible 
are those of the Chinese pilgrims of the early centuries,' the 

1 JHHo, p. 254. 

' JKuMtaiu in Ceniral Atia, p. 186, uqq, ; Wood, p. 260 ; BiHor, yol. vii ; 
Bnmes, iii, 192. 

s Of these extracts are given in RiUmr, vii, 498, Boqq. I bare no aooess 
fit present to Hiwen Thsang. 



DTTBODUCTOBY NOTICE. 543 

brief but pregnant eketohes of Moroo Polo, so singularly 001^ 
roborated even to minntice in otur own day by Captain Wood, and 
these fragmentary memoranda of Benedict Gk>es. It seems im- 
possible absolutely to determine the route followed by Marco, 
but from his mentioning a twelve days march along the lofty 
plain it seems probable that he followed, as certainly the ancient 
Chinese pilgrims did, a course running north from the head of 
the Oxus valley over the plateau to the latitude of Tashbalik 
before descending into Eastern Turkestan. Goes and his 
caravan, on the other hand, following what is probably the usual 
route of later days, would seem to have crossed athwart the Pamir, 
in the direction of the sources of the Yarkand river, and passing 
two or more of the ridges that buttress the Bolor on the east, to 
have descended on Yanghi-Hissar, a city intermediate between 
Kashgar and Yarkand. A modern caravan route, laid down by 
Macartney in the map attached to Elphinstone's " Caubul," seems 
evidently to represent the same line as that taken by our traveller's 
party, and both representations appear to suggest the view of its 
general course which has just been indicated. 

The country in which Goes found himself after the passage of 
these mountains has been equally shut up from European access 
since the days of the great Mongol empires, but has become 
better known from Chinese sources, having been for long intervals 
and from a very early date under the influence of the Chinese. 
This region, perhaps best designated as Eastern Tnricestan, but 
named in maps of the last century (I know not why) as '* Ldttle 
Bokhara,'' forms a great depressed valley of some four hundred 
miles in width from north to south, supposed by Humboldt from 
botanical inductions not to exceed twelve hundred feet in the 
absolate elevation of its lower portions. It is shut in on three 
sides by mountain ranges of great height, viz. : on the north by 
the Thian Shan or Celestial Mountains of the Chinese, separating 
it from the plains of the Hi, on the south by the Kuen-Lun 
propping the gpreat plateau of Tibet, and on the west by the 
transverse chain of the Bolor dividing it from Western Turkestan. 
The g^reater part of the surface of this depression is desert, of 
clayey soil and stony surface towards the foot of the mountain 



544 JOURNEY OP BENEDICT GOES. 

ranges, and of sand in the interior, which eastward aocnmnlates 
into ranges of shifting sand hills. Though the air is of exceeding 
dryness and rain is rare, the amount of water which flows down 
from the snowy mountains on three sides of this valley must be 
considerable. The rivers carrying this, drain into the central 
channel of the Ergol or Tarym, which is absorbed by Lake Lop 
on the eastern verge of the tract, and has no farther outlet, 
except in the legends of the Chinese which connect it by sub- 
terranean issues with the Hoaug Ho. The lateral rivers afford 
irrigation, and patches of more or less fertile soil border the bases 
of the three ranges, in which cities have risen, and settled states 
have existed from time immemorial. Similar oases perhaps onoe 
existed nearer the centre of the plain, where Marco Polo places 
the city of Lop, and across which a direct road once led from the 
Chinese frontier to Elhotan.^ From Khotan, as from the western 
cities of Kashgar and Yarkand, the only communication with 
China now followed seems to lie through the towns that are 
dotted along the base of the Thian Shan.^ 

Chinese scholars date the influence of the empire in the more 
westerly of these states from the second century B.C. In the 
first century after our era they were thoroughly subjected, and 
the Chinese power extended even beyond the Bolor to the shores 
of the Caspian. The Chinese authority was subject to consider- 
able fluctuations, but under ihe Thang in the seventh century we 
find the country east of the mountains again under Chinese gover- 
nors, (whose seats are indicated as Bishbalik, Khotan, Karashahr, 
and Kashgar,)' till the decay of that dynasty in the latter part of 
the ninth century, and those divisions of the empire which followed, 
and endured till the conquest of all its sub-divisions by Chinghiz 
and his successors. These latter held supremacy, actual or 
nominal, over Eastern Turkestan as part of the early conquests 
of their house. They fell in China, and their Chinese successors 

1 This road is said to have been abandoned on account of the Trii.lTn|>.v 
banditti who haunted it. It seems to have been followed, as an excep- 
tional case, by Shah Bukh's ambassadors on their return firom China (see 
Not et ExtraiU, ziv, Pt. i, p. 425 ; aJso p. 476). 

' Chiefly derived from Busaians in Central Asul, 

^ Pauthier, Chine Andenne, p. 296. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 545 

of ibe Ming dynasty had little power beyond the frontiers of 
China Proper, or at most beyond the territory of Kamil.' The 
western states remained subject more or less nominally to the 
Khans of the eastern branch of Chagatai, whose history has been 
briefly traced in a previous page of this book. The government 
of Kashgar had always since the days of Chinghiz been conferred 
on a chief oflBcer of the Khan's court. Tughlak Timur, on his 
accession, bestowed it on the Amir Tulak, who was succeeded by 
Bulaji, both being brothers of Kamamddin, who slew Elias the 
son of Tughlak Timur and usurped the Khanate. Bulaji was 
succeeded by his son Khuddidad, of whom we have already heard 
(supra ^ p, 525). This prince ruled for many years prosperously and 
beneficently, holding quasi-regal power over Kashgar, Khotan, 
Aksu, Bai and Kucha,^ devoting much of his revenue to pious 
objects, especially the redemption of Musulman captives carried 
off by the Mongols in their raids on Maworalnahr. His rule 

> The drcumstance cited in a note at p. 275^ «upra, shows that^ in 1419, 
the Chinese power did not extend to Torfan and Earakhoja. In 1605, 
as we shall see presently, it did not even indude Eamil. 

' " Mai and Kush" but I suppose the names in the text are those in- 
tended. For Kucha or Kuchia, see a note on Qoes*s journey further on. 
Bai is a town at the foot of the Thian Shan, between Aksu and Kucha, 
137 miles N.E. of the former, famous now for its sheep-farming and felt 
mannfi&ctiire. It is identified by Hugh Murray with the Pein of Polo ; 
an identification followed by Pauthier, who however quotes Murray's 
remark, that it had " defied coi^jecture" {hitherto), without noticing that 
Murray had himself made the identification. 

The mention of Bai here as a province coupled with Kashgar, Khotan, 
and Aksu, addi^ strongly to the probability that it is really the Peivi of 
Marco. There is a difficulty in the &ct that the chief circumstance he 
notes about Pein is the production of jasper, i. e, jade, in its river; and I 
can find no notice of this mineral being found in the northern affluents of 
the Tarim, though Timkowski does mention ^DrougKt jade as a staple of 
Aksu. Hence Bitter seeks Pein on the road from Taf kand to the Ka- 
rakorum Pass, where Izzet Ullah mentions a quarry of jade, near where 
there is a station called Terek-lak-Po^^n. The last word, however, I 
believe merely means • " Lower," and the position scarcely can answer 
Polo's description. It is possible that the province or district of Bai may 
have extended south of the Tarim Kul so as to embrace a part of the 
jaspiferous rivers of Khotan {Murray* 9 Polo, ii, 82 ; Pauthier* s, p. 145 ; 
Timkowski, i, 391 ; Bitter, vii, 382 ; Russ, in Cent, Asia, p. 160). KhoHyan 
and Btihi are mentioned in juxtaposition also by the early Arab traveller, 
Ibn Mohalhal, and probably indicate these same two provinces (see notes 
to Preliminary Essay). 

35 



546 JOURNEY OP BENEDICT GOES. 

lasted nnder the reign of four snccessivo Khans of Eastern 
Chagatai. In his old age he made the pilgrimage and died at 
Medina.^ £[is son Mahomed Shah inherited his honours, hat the 
territories of Kashgar and Khotan had been annexed by Timnr, 
and remained for some time subject to the descendants of that 
conqueror, who were in the habit of confiding those provinces to 
one of their own chief officers. Whilst it was administered by 
these. Said Ali, the son of Mahomed, made repeated attempts to 
recover his grandfather's dominions, and at length succeeded. 
It is needless to follow the history of this dynasty in further 
detail. During their time the country seems sometimes to have 
been divided into different states, of which EAshgar and Khotan 
were the chief, and sometimes to have been united under the 
prince of Kashgar. The last prince of the dynasty, Abubakr 
Khan, was also one of the most powerful. He reigned for forty- 
eight years, and made considerable conquests beyond the mountain 
ranges. He it was also who transferred the seat of government 
to Yarkand. But about 1515, Abusaid, son of Ahmed, son of 
Yunus Khan of Eastern Chagatai, being a refugee in Farghana, 
organized an expedition against Kashgar and Yarkand, which he 
succeeded in capturing, adding afterwards to his conquests 
parts of Badakhshan, of Tibet, and of Kashmir.' When Goes 
travelled through the country, the king, Mahomed Khan, whom 
he found upon the throne of Kashgar (of which Yarkand was 
now the capital) appears to have been a descendant of this 
Abusaid.^ His power, we gather from Goes, extended at least 
over the territory of Aksu, and probably in some degree over the 
whole country at the base of the Thian Shan to the Chinese 
frontier, including Kamil ; for what Gt)es calls the kingdom of 
Cialis or Chalis, embracing Karashahr and Kamil with the inter- 
mediate towns of Turfan and Pijan, was ruled by a son of the 

^ According to Notices et Extraita (quoted below)^ Khudaidad ruled for 
ninety years. He is mentioned by Shah Bokh's envoys to China, as ooming 
to meet them near the Mongol frontier (Not, et Extraite, ziv, pt. i, p. 388). 

> See Notices et Extraits, as quoted at p. 548. 

' He was probably the Mahomed Sultan, sixth son of Abdul Bashid 
Khan, who is mentioned in Qnatrem^re's extracts (see p. 548) as govern- 
ing the city of Kashgar daring the reign of his brother Abdolkerim, 
towards the end of the sixteenth century. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 547 

prince who reigned at Yarkand. Khotan appears nnder a sepa- 
rate Bovereign, sister's son to the king at Yarkand, and perhaps 
subsidiary to him. 

The rulers of Eastern Turkestan had always been Mahomedan 
from the time of Tnghlak Timur, who was, we are told, the first 
Mahomedan sovereign of Kashgar of the lineage of Chinghiz. 
Buddhism, indeed, was found still prevalent in the cities of Turfan 
and Kamil at the time of the embassy of Shah Rukh in 1419, and 
probably did not become extinct much before the end of the cen- 
tury. But in the western states Islam seems to have been 
universal from an earlier date and maintained with fanatical zeal.^ 
Saintly teachers and workers of miracles, chmqpig descent from 
Mahomed, and known as Khwajas or Hojahs, acquired great in- 
fluence, and the sectaries attached to the chief of these divided the 
people into -rival factions, whose mutual hostility eventually led to 
the subjugation of the whole country. For late in the seventeenth 
century, Hojah Appak, the leader of one of those parties called 
the White Mountain, having been expelled from Elashgar by 
Ismail Khan the chief of that state, who was a zealous supporter 
of the opposite party or Black Mountain, sought the aid of Galdan 
Khan, sovereign of the Eleuths or Kalmuks of Dzungaria. 
Taking the occasion so afforded, that chief in 1678 invaded the 
states south of the Thian Shan, carried off the Khan of Kashgar 
and his family, and established the Hojahs of the White Moun- 
tain over the country in authority subordinate to his own. Ghreat 
discords for many years succeeded, sometimes one faction and 
Bometimes another being uppermost, but some supremacy always 
continuing to be exercised by the Khans of Dzungaria. In 1757 
the latter country was conquered by the Chinese, who in the 
following year, making a tool of the White party which was then 
in opposition, succeeded in bringing the states of Turkestan also 
under their rule. So they have continued until the present day, 

1 According to the Mecca pilgrim, whose statements are given in the 
Jour, As. Soe, Bengal, vol. iv (I borrow from BitUr, vii, 353), there are now 
many Buddhist priests and temples at the capital of Khotan. Bat the 
presumption is that these have been reestablished since the revival of 
Chinese domination in the last century. Islam seems to have been ex- 
tensively prevalent in those regions for centuries previous to the Mongols' 
rule, though probably the rise of the latter f^vo a lift to other religions. 

358 



548 JOUBNBY OF BENEDICT OOES^ ETC. 

the details of administration resting chiefly with the native 
authorities, but with Chinese officials in supervision, and Chinese 
garrisons in the chief towns and on the frontiers, the whole being 
under the general government of the Hi province established at 
Kulja on the river so called, not far from the ancient Almalik. 
Rebellions, however, have been very frequent and serious during 
the last sixty years, and a great one is now in progress of which 
we know little as yet.^ 

I am not in a position to say mnch as to the bibliography of 
Goes's journey. It is translated or related^ I believe, in Purchas, 
but I have no access to a copy of the Pilgrims. An abstract of 
it is given in the China Ulustrata of the garrulous old Jesuit 
Athanasius Kircher (pp. 62-64 Amsterdam^ 1667), and a some- 
what abridged version, with notes, in Astley's Voyages, which I 
have formerly read, but have not now by me, Ritter first in 
recent times took some pains to trace the route of Goes 
systematically, by the light of modem knowledge regarding these 
regions, such as it is. It will be seen by the notes that I have 
on various occasions ventured to differ from him. 

1 Chiefly from the Rtus, in Cent, Aaia, The history of these regions, 
firom the fall of the Mongol dynasty in China to the events which led to 
the revival of the Chinese power in the last oentniy, seems only obscurely 
known. The chief existing record of the histoiy, np to the middle of 
the sixteenth century, is stated to be the work called TdrCkh-Bashidi, 
written by Mirza Mahomed Haidar Kurkan, Waiir of Abdul Bashid Khan 
of Eashgar» who came to the throne, according to Quatrem^re, a.h. 950= 
A.D. 1543 (Valikhanoff says 1554), and reigned for thirty-three years. 
According to Capt. Valikhanoff, the second part of this history describes 
the personal adventures of the author, communicating much information 
respecting the mountain ranges and countries a4Joining Eashgar, and 
should contain very interesting matter. The work seems to have been 
little meddled with in Europe. There is a long extract, however, by 
Quatrem^re, in vol. xiv of the Notices et Ettraits, pp. 474-489, firom the 
Persian geography called H(\ft Ikl(m (Seven Climates), but which is de- 
rived firom the Tarikh Bashidi, and partly it would seem from a some- 
what later source, as Abdul Bashid's son, Abdul Kerim, is spoken of as 
then reigning. This extract has furnished most of the particulars in the 
preceding paragraphs of the text. Valikhanoff also speaks of a manu- 
script history of tho Hojahs, down to the capture of Tarkand by the 
Chinese in 1758, called THaekarai Hojctghian, which he obtained at Kash- 
gar. From this apparently he derives the particulars which he gives 
regarding those persons and their factions {B. in Cent, Asia, pp. 69, 167 
seqq, ; Notices et ETtraits, u. s.). 



THE JOUENEY OP BENEDICT GOES TO CATHAY; 

FEOM CHAPTERS XI, XII, AND XIII OF THE WORK ENTITLED 

" DB CHRISTIANA BXFEDITIONE APUD SINAS, SUSCEPTA AB 

80CIETATE JESU, EX P. MATTHiEI RICH COHMEN- 

TARIIS, ETC., AUCTORE P. NICOLAO TRIQAU- 

TIO." AUGUST. VIND., 1615. 



CHAP. XI. 



How the Portuguese, Benedict QoBa, a member of our Society, is sent 

to find out about Cathay. 

Letters from those members of the Society who were living 
at the Court of the Mogul brought to Western India^ some 
news regarding that famous empire which the Mahomedans 
called Cathat, the name of which was once familiar to 
Europe through the story of Marcus Paulus the Venetian, 
but had in the lapse of ages so fallen out of remembrance 
that people scarcely believed in the existence of such a 
country. The substance of what the Pathers wrote from 
time to time was, that the empire of Cathay lay towards the 
east, somewhat further north than the kingdom of the 
Mogul ; and that they had reason to believe that many pro- 
fessors of the Christian faith were to be found in it, with 
churches, priests, and sacraments. On this Pather Nicolas 

> literally, "From the lettere of the members dwelling at the court 
of Mogor, it was heard in Jndia" With the missionaries of this age, 
and the Portuguese, India meant Goa and the Western Coast (just as 
with the Dutch now India means Java and Sumatra) ; Hindustan Proper 
and the dominions of the Mogul were called Mogor. 



550 JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES 

Pimenta the Portuguese, who was Visitor of the Society in 
the East Indies, became greatly taken up with the desire of 
establishing a field of labour for our Society among that 
people ; all the more because it might well be supposed that 
Christians separated from their head by such vast distances 
must have fallen into sundry errors. Hence he thought it 
well to communicate on the matter both with the Pope and 
with His most Catholic Majesty.^ And by the King^s com- 
mand, accordingly, despatches were sent to the Viceroy, then 
Arias Saldanha, desiring him to support the expedition 
proposed by the Visitor with both money and countenance ; 
an order which he carried out, and more, as might indeed 
have been expected from the favourable disposition that he 
entertained both towards the propagation of the faith, and 
towards our Order in particular. The Visitor proceeded to 
select for the exploration one of our Brethren called Benedict 
Goes, a Portuguese by nation, and an eminently pious and 
sensible man, who from his long residence in the MoguPs 
territories, had an accurate knowledge of the Persian 
tongue, and a thorough acquaintance with Mahomedan 
customs, two qualifications which appeared to be indispen- 
sable for any one attempting this journey. 

Our brethren had heard indeed, by extracts of Father 
Matthew's letters from the capital of China, that Cathay was 
but another name for the Chinese empire, (a fact which has 
been established by various arguments in a previous part of 
this book) . But as quite an opposite view was taken in the 
letters of the Fathers at the Mogul's court, the Visitor first 
wavered and then inclined to the opinions of the latter; 
for whilst he found it distinctly stated in regard to Cathay 
that a considerable number of Mahomedans were to be met 
with there, it had come to be considered an established 
fact that the follies of that sect had never found their way 
to China. Moreover, whilst it was denied that there over 

1 Philip III. 



TO CATHAY. 551 

had been a vestige of Christianity in China, the positive 
assertions of the Mahomedan eye-witnesses were held to put 
beyond question its existence in the country called Cathay. 
It was suggested that the name of an empire conterminous 
with China might have been extended also to the latter ; and 
it was decided that the investigation should be carried out, 
so as both to remove all shadow of doubt, and to ascertain 
^whether a shorter line of communication with China could 
not be estabUshed. 

As regards the Christians who were held so positively to 
exist in Cathay {i.e. as we shall see by and by in China), 
either the Mahomedan informants simply lied, as they have 
a way of doing, or they were misled by some superficial 
indications. For as they themselves never pay respect to 
images of any kind, when they saw in the Chinese temples 
a number of images not altogether unlike our representations 
of the Mother of God and .some of the Saints, they may 
possibly have thought that the religion of the country was 
all one with Christianity. They would also see both lamps 
and wax lights placed upon the altars; they would see those 
heathen priests robed in the sacred vestments which our 
books of ritual call Pluvials ; processions of suppliants just 
like ours; chaunting in a style almost exactly resembling the 
Gregorian chaimts in our churches ; and other parallels of 
the same nature, which have been introduced among them 
by the devil, clumsily imitating holy things and grasping at 
the honours due to God. All these circumstances might 
easily lead a parcel of traders, especially if Mahomedans, 
to regard the people as professors of Christianity.^ 

> So easily that the alternative supposition might have been spared. 
The like confasion has often occurred, and the Jesuits themselves have 
here shown why. According to De Guignes, the Chinese describe the 
sovereign and people of the (Eastern) Boman Empire as worshippers of 
Fo, or Buddha, and as putting his image on their coins. De Gama, in his 
report of the various eastern kingdoms of which he heard at Calicut, de- 
scribes the Buddhist countries of Pegu, etc., as Christian. Clavijo sets 



552 JOURNEY OP BENEDICT GOES ^ 

I 

So oar Benedict began to prepare for his joamey, and 
assumed both the dress and the name of an Armenian 
Christian merchant^ calling himself Abdala^ which signifies j 

Servant of the Lard, with the addition of Isdi or the 
Christian.* And he got from the Mogul king, Akbar by 
name, who was friendly to the brethren and above all to 
Benedict himself, sundry rescripts addressed to various 
Princes known to be either friends or tributaries of his. So 
he was to pass for an Armenian, for in that character he 
would be allowed to travel freely, whilst if known as a 
Spaniard he was certain to be stopped.* He also carried 
with him a variety of wares, both that he might maintain 
himself by selling them, and to keep up his character as a 
merchant. There was a large supply of these wares both 
from (western) India, and from the Mogul dominions, pro- 
vided at the expense of the Viceroy of India, aided by con- 
tributions also from Akbar himself. Father Jerome Xavier, 
who had for many years been at the head of the Mogul 
mission, appointed two men acquainted with those countries 
to be the comrades of his journey. One, for Benedict's 

down tlie king and people of India as Christians of the Greek fiiitb, and 
heard that the Emperor of Cathay was a Christian also. The Tartars, 
whom Josaphat Barbaro met at Tana> assured him that the inhabitants 
of Cathay were Christians, because " they had images in their temples 
as we have." Anthony Jenkinson's party were told at Bokhara, in 1559, 
that the religion of the people of Cathay was that of the Christians, or 
very nearly so (see also supra, p. 205, a note from Quatrem^re). When 
Dr. Bichardson and Capt. Madeod, in their explorations of the stated east 
of Burma, fell in with Chinese traders, these generally claimed them as 
of their own religion. 

> Jarrio says the name bestowed on him by Xavier was " Branda Abedula, 
i. e.. Servant of the Lord." I do not know what the first word is meant 
for. 

^ " He adopted the common Armenian costume, viz., a long frock and 
turban, with a scymitar, bow, and quiver, this being a dress usually 
worn by merchants, but yet such as marked him for a Christian" (Jdrric). 
He allowed his hair and beard to grow long, as was the practice of mer- 
chants. He was often, however, on the journey, as his letters men- 
tioned, taken for a Saida (Syad), or descendant of Mahomed (16.). 



TO CATHAY. 553 

comfort^ was a priest^ by name Leo Grimanus^ the other a 
merchant called Demetrius.* There were also four servants^ 
Mahomedans by birth and former profession^ but converted 
to Christianity. All of these servants however he discharged 
as useless when he got to Lahobe (the second capital of the 
Mogul) ^ and took in lieu of them a single Armenian^ Isaac 
by name, who had a wife and family at Lahore. This Isaac 
proved the most faithful of all his comrades, and stuck to 
him throughout the whole journey, a regular jidua Achates. 
So our brother took leave of his superior, and set out, as 
appears from the letter of instructions, on the sixth of 
January in the third year of this century (1603).^ 

Every year a company of merchants is formed in that 
capital to proceed to the capital of another territory with a 
king of its own, called Cascab.^ These all take the road to- 
gether, either for the sake of mutual comfort or for protec- 
tion against robbers. They numbered in the present case 
about five hundred persons, with a great number of mules, 
camels, and carts. So he set out from Lahore in this way 
during Lent of the year just mentioned,^ and after a month^s 
travelling they came to a town called Athec,^ still within the 
province of Lahore, After (a halt of) about a fortnight they 
crossed a river of a bowshot in width, boats being provided 
at the passage for the accommodation of the merchants. On 
the opposite bank of the river they halted for five days, 

1 The former \a probably the same person who is mentioned by Jairic as 
"the snbdeaoon LeoGhymonius, a clever and experienced man/' a Greek 
by nation, who was sent by Akbar on a mission to Qoa about 1690 
(ii, 529). 

< The instractions were probably sent after him to Lahore, for we hare 
seen that according to another and probably more correct statement he 
set out on the 31st October, and reached Lahore 8th December, 1602. 
As instructed, he did not put up at the church at Lahore, then occupied 
by the Jesuits Emanuel Pinner and Francis Corsi, but at the house of 
John Galisci, a Venetian (Jarric). 

' Ksfihgar. ^ Easter in 1603 was 30th March, n.8. 

^ Attok, on the Indus. 



554 JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES 

haying received warning that a large body of robbers was 
threatening the road, and then after two months they arrived 
at another city called Passaub :' and there they halted twenty 
days for needful repose. Further on, whilst on their way to 
another small town, they fell in with a certain pilgrim and 
devotee, from whom they learned that at a distance of thirty 
days' journey there was a city called Capfebstam, into which 
no Mahomedan was allowed to enter, and if one did get in 
he was punished with death. There was no hindrance 
offered to the entrance of heathen merchants into the cities 
of those people, only they were not allowed to enter the 
temples. He related also that the inhabitants of that country 
never visited their'temples except in black dresses ; and that 
their country was extremely productive, abounding especially 
in grapes. He offered our brother Benedict a cup of the 
produce, and he found it to be wine like our own ; and as 
such a thing is quite unusual among the Mahomedans of 
those regions, a suspicion arose that perhaps the country 
was inhabited by Christians." In the place where they met 



^ Peshawur. For two months read two marches, see p. 538 supra. These 
halts of twenty days, thirty days, all look suspicious. Some mistaken 
interpretation is probably at the bottom of the difficulty. 

3 The " city called Capperstam" represents Kafibistan, the hill coun- 
try occupied by the fair race called by th^ Mahomedans Kafirs, or in-> 
fidels, of whom we still know extremely little. Some of them, at least, 
are called Siyaposh, or black-clothed (like the Scythian MelanchUeni of 
Herodotus, iv, 107), from their wearing black goat-skins. The abun- 
dance of gprapes and wine among them is noticed by Elphinstone (ii, 375) 
and Wood. Sultan Baber also says : " So prevalent is the use of wine 
among them, that every Kafir has a Khig, or leathern bottle of wine, 
about his neck; they drink wine instead of water" (p. 144). Timur, be- 
fore entering Afghanistan, on his march towards India, sent an expe- 
dition against the Siyaposh ; and himself led one against another section 
of the Kafirs, the members of which, according to his historian, went 
quite naked. To reach these he crossed the snowy mountain Kataur, 
This is the name of one of the Kafir tribes in Elphifistone, and Shah 
Kataur is a title still affected by the Chief of Chitral, according to Bumes. 
Chinghiz also after his campaign in the region of the Hindu Kush, is 
stated to have wintered in the mountains of Buya Kataur. Thence he 



TO CATBAY. 555 

with that wanderer they halted for twenty days more, and as 
the road was reported to be infested with brigands they got 
an escort of four hundred soldiers from the lord of the place. 
From this they travelled in twenfcy-five days to a place called 
Ghideli.^ In the whole of this journey the baggage and 

attempted to reach Mongolia by Tibet (probably by the paeses of Kara- 
korum), but failed, and had to go round by Bamian. Akbar and Nadir 
Shah also undertook expeditions against the Kafirs, both unsuccessfully 
(H. d€ Timwr Bee., iii, 14-21; jyOhtBon, i, 319; ElphimtwM^s Caubul, ii, 
376, 881 ; Bitter, vii, 207). 

Kafiristan has lately been visited by two native missionaries, employed 
under the agents of the Church Missionary Society at Peshawar, and 
some account of their experiences has been published, but it does not 
amount to much. The chastity and honesty of the people are lauded. 
Those of the same village entertain a strong feeling of kindred, so that 
neither fighting nor marrying among themselves is admissible. But the 
different tribes or villages are often at war with each other, and then to 
kill men or women of an alien tribe is the road to honour. They have 
no temples, priests, or books. They believe that there is one God, but 
keep three idols whom they regain! as intercessors with him. One of 
these, called Palishanu, is roughly carved in wood, with silver eyes ; he is 
resorted to in excess or defect of rain, or in epidemic sickness. Goats are 
• sacrificed, and the blood sprinkled on the idol. Women must not ap- 
proach it. The other two idols are common stones. Goats' flesh is the 
chief food of the people, and occasionaUy partridges and deer ; but fowls, 
eggs, and fish are not used. They have no horses, donkeys, or camels, 
only a few oxen and buffaloes, and a few dogs. " They drink wine in 
large quantities, and very nasty it ia, if what was brought down to Pesh- 
awar may be taken as a specimen ;" but none were seen drunk. Their 
drinking-vessels were of curiously wrought pottery, and occasionally of 
silver. They live to a great age, and continue hale till the day of death. 
" The men are somewhat dark, but the women are said to be as fair as 
Europeans, and very beautiful, with red cheeks." The men hardly ever 
wash either their clothes or their persons. In talking they shout with all 
their might. They buiy their dead with coffins, in caves among the hills. 
(Prom Christian Work, September 1865, p. 421). 

Leech, in his Beport on the Passes of Hindu Rush, mentions that amitha 
are regarded by the Kafirs as natural bondsmen, and are occasionally 
brought for sale to the Musulman people of the valleys ; also, that the 
oath of i>eace of the Kafirs consists in licking a piece of salt. This last 
was also the oath of the Kasias on the eastern frontier of Bengal, in 
whose country I spent some time many years ago. 

1 George Forster was, on the Slst July, at Gandamak ; on the 1st of 
August he rested at I^eguid'*Ali (I am using a Fi'ench version, and do 
not know how Forster spellA it) ; next day he jrot to Kabul. I suspect 



556 JOURNEY OF BENKDICT GOES 

packs were carried along the foot of the hills^ whilst the 
merchants, arms in hand, kept a look out for the robbers 
from the hill-top.^ For these latter are in the habit of rolling 
stones down upon travellers, unless these are beforehand 
with them on the heights, and meeting violence by 
violence drive them away. At this place the merchants 
pay a toll, and here the robbers made an onslaught. Many 
of the company were wounded, and life and property were 
saved with difficulty. Our Benedict fled with the rest into 
the jungle, but coming back at night they succeeded in 
getting away from the robbers. After twenty days more 
they reached Cabul, a city greatly frequented for trade, and 
still within the territories subject to the Mogul. Here oar 
friends halted altogether for eight months. For some of the 
merchants laid aside the intention of going any further, and 
the rest were afraid to go on in so small a body. 

At this same city the company of merchants was joined 
by the sister of that very King of Cascar, through whose 
territory it was needful to pass on the way to Cathay. The 
king's name is Maffamet Can ; his sister was the mother of 
another king, entitled the Lord of Cotan, and she herself 
was- called Age Hanem.* Age is a title with which the 
Saracens decorate those who go on pilgrimage to the im- 

that this J^eguid-Ali is the Ohideli of Goes, and that both represent the 
nomen infdix of Jugdulluk (Jour, from Befngal to Petersburg, Frenoh ver- 
sion by Langlis, ii, 52). The preceding town, where Goes's party got an 
escort, was probably Jalalabad. The exaggerated interpretation of the 
times occupied in the march most be kept in mind, whatever be the cause 
of the error. According to the text, Go§d was forty-five days + a; in getting 
from Peshawar to Kabul. Forster's account makes him only seven days; 
Wood, with Bnmes, was nineteen days, but with halts included. 

^ The neglect of this same practice of " crowning the heights" caused 
grievous disaster in those veiy passes, in the first attempt to relieve the 
"Illustrious Garrison" of Jalalabad in 1841. 

^ Ha^Khanum, " The Pilgrim Princess." Jarric caUs her Ahehaxam, 
i. 0., in the Turkish tongue, " Beauty coming down from Mecca" (?) The 
king's name is, of course, Mahomed Ehan ; his sister's son, the Lord of 
Khotan, south-east of Kashgar and Yarkand. 



TO CATHAY. 557 

postor^s carcase at Mecha. In fact she was now on her retnm 
from that immense journey to Mecha^ which she had per- 
formed for the sake of her blasphemoas creed ; and having 
ran Bhort of money she came to seek assistance from the 
merchants^ and promised that she would honestly repay 
their advances with ample interest on reaching her territory. 
This seemed to our brother an opportunity not to be lost of 
obtaining the favour of the king of another kingdom^ for now 
the eflScacy of the Mogul's orders was coming to an end. So 
he made her an advance of about six hundred pieces of gold 
from the sale of his goods^ and refused to allow interest to 
be stipulated in the bond. She would not^ however^ let her- 
self be outdone in Hberality, for she afterwards paid him in 
pieces of that kind of marble which is so highly esteemed 
among the Chinese^ and which is the most profitable of all 
investments that one can take to Cathay. 

From this place the Priest Leo Grymanus went back^ 
being unable to stand the fatigues of the journey ; and his 
comrade Demetrius stopped behind in the town on account 
of some business. So our brother set out^ attended by no 
one but the Armenian^ in the caravan with the other mer- 
chants. For some others had now joined them^ and it was 
thought that they could proceed with safety. 

The first town that they came to was Ciarakab, a place 
where there is great abundance of iron.' And here Benedict 
was subjected to a great deal of annoyance. For in those 
outskirts of the Mogul's dominions no attention was paid to 
the king's firmcm, which had hitherto given him immunity 
from exactions of every kind. Ten days later they got to a 

> Charekar, at the head of the Eoh-Daman valley, north of Eabul^ 
famous in onr own day for the gallant defence made there by Eldred Pot- 
tinger, and Hanghton, daring the Eabol outbreak. It is mentioned by 
Ibn Batata as Charhh, Leech, in his Seport on the Passes, calls it 
Charka. 

It is to be recollected that the names in the text are all spelt by Bicci 
after the Italian fashion. 



558 JOURNEY OP BENEDICT GOES 

little town called Pabuan,' and this was the last in the 
Mogtd's territories. After five days' repose they proceeded 
to cross over very lofty mountains by a journey of twenty 
days^ to the district called Ainoharan^^ and after fifteen days 

> Parwdn, in a nook of the Hindu Knsh, has, from its position near the 
terminus of several of the chief passes, often been famous in Asiatic his- 
tory. It is evidently the Karwan of Janbert's Edrisi (a mistranscription 
for Farwan) — " The town of Farwan is of no great size, but a nice enough 
place with agreeable environs, thronged bazars, and rich inhabitants. 
The houses are of clay and brick. It is situated on the banks of the 
river Baxghir (Panjshir). This town is one of the principal markets of 
India" (i, p. 477). At Parwan the army of Chinghiz was checked for the 
moment in 1221, being defeated by the Sultan Jalaluddin of Khwarizm. 
And in an actipn near Parwan in 1840 took place the ominous misconduct 
of a regiment of Bengal cavalry, which caused the day to be lost, with 
the lives of several valuable officers, though Dost Mahomed Khan sur- 
rendered immediately afterwards. 

' Here the great number of days occupied in the various portions of the 
journey is perplexing in the detail as well as erroneous in the total (as 
we have seen it to be). Go^s and his party are made to take seventy-five 
days from Kabul to Talhan (the identity of which can scarcely be doubt- 
ful), a journey which could scarcely have occupied more than sixteen to 
twenty at most. 

Wood, in his unsuccessful attempt to cross one of the Passes of Parwan 
(perhaps that followed by Goes), on the second day reached the village 
I-Anqheran, and Ahingaran is also mentioned in Leech's Beport as a 
village on one of the passes from Parwan at twenty-six miles from the 
entrance of the pass. But this place is on the south side of the mountains, 
whilst the Aingharan of Goes is on the north. Either it has been con- 
founded with Andarah, or as is very possible the name, which I suppose is 
Ahan^ghardn, " The Iron-Mines," recurs. Indeed just before receiving 
the proof of this sheet I have observed the recurrence of the name in 
another locality, suggesting a different view of Goes's route over the 
mountains, for which I refer to the note on the Passes at the end. 
Calcia, (Kalsha, Kalacha, Kilasiya?) is a great difficulty, as it was 
evidently a place of some importance, but no place of the name can 
be traced. Khulum however appears to have been in the possession 
of a family called Khallach or Killich, and it is possible that that 
town may be meant (see Elphin8tone*8 Caubul, ii, 196; also Bumes, 
iii). I must not, however, omit to mention that on the north side of the 
Oxus in this longitude, occupying part of the hill-country east of Bok- 
hara, there is a poor but indei>endent people of Persian race called OhaU 
ehas. Meyendorff caUs them very swarthy, but Yalikhanoff says ex- 
pressly : " The Tajiks have dark complexions and hair, whilst fair people 
are found among the Ghalcha." This might explain the yellow-haired 
people mentioned by Goes, and his use of the expression Caleienaiwn 



TO CATHAY. 559 

more they reached Calcia. There is a people here with 
yellow hair and beard like the people of the Low Countries, 
who occupy sundry hamlets about the country. After ten 
days more they came to a certain place called Gialalabath. 
Here are brahmans who exact a toll under a grant made to 
them by the King of Bruarata/ In fifteen days more they 
came to Talhan, where they halted for a month, deterred by 
the civil wars that were going on ; for the roads were said 
to be unsafe on account of the rebellion of the people of 
Calcia.' 

From this they went on to Cheman,* a place under Ab- 
dulahan King of Samarkan, Burgavia, Bacharata,^ and other 

Populos. But I cannot well see how hia Calcia should be beyond the 
0x118, nor find any eyidence of Ghalchas south of that river. Oaoloshan 
in the Chinese tables, which is nearer Calcia than any other name, is 
placed l"" 36' west of Badakhshan and 0" 26' north of it. This indication 
also points to the north of the Oxus, about twenty miles due north of 
Hazrat Imam (see Meyendorff, p. 182 ; Buss, in Cent Asia, p. 66 ; Amyot, 
Memoires, tom. i, p. 399). If Calcia, however, be Khulum, Jalalahad must 
then be sought between Khulum and Talikhan, about Kunduz or Aliabad, 
if not identical with one of these. 

1 Bruarata is almost certainly a misreading for Bacharata, the term 
used farther on for Bokhara. 

s Talhan is the first terra firma in the narrative since quitting Parwan. 
It is doubtless Talikhan, about fifty miles east of Kunduz, and has been 
spoken of in the Introductory Notice (p. 541). It is mentioned by Marco 
Polo under the name of Taikan (ii, ch. 22). 

' I cannot say what place this is. Hazrat Imam on the Oxus appears 
too much out of the way. But Wood mentions, at the junction of the 
Kokcha with the Oxus, due north of Talikhan, a mountain which he calla 
I'Khanam (Koh-i-Khanam ? " Hill of Khanam") : " Immediately below 
I-Khanam, on its east side, the ground is raised into low swelling ridges. 
Here, we were informed, stood an ancient city called Barbarrah, and 
there is a considerable extent of mud-waUs standing which the Tajika 
think are vestiges of the old city, but which are evidently of a compara- 
tively modem era." It is possible that this was Khanam, and the Cheman 
ofOo^. 

* Burgavia is probably a misprint for Burgania (as Astley in his version 
has indeed printed it), and intended for Farghana. The prince is then 
Abdulla Khan, King of Samarkand, Bokhara and Farghana. The reign- 
ing sovereign at this time, according to Deg^ignes (i, 291-2) was Abdul 
Mumin of the Uzbek house of Shaibek, which had reigned for a century 
in Mawaralnahr. 



560 JOURNEY OP BENEDICT GOES 

adjoining kingdoms. It is a small town, and the governor 
sent to the merchants to advise them to come within the 
walls, as outside they would not be very safe from the Calcis 
insurgents. The merchants, however, replied that they were 
willing to pay toll, and would proceed on their journey by 
night. The governor of the town then absolutely forbade 
their proceeding, saying that the rebels of Calcia as yet had 
no horses, but they would get them if they plundered the 
caravan, and would thus be able to do much more damage to 
the country, and be much more troublesome to the town ; it 
would be a much safer arrangement if they would join his 
men in beating off the Calcia people. They had barely 
reached the town walls when a report arose that the Calcia 
people were coming I On hearing this the bragging governor 
and his men took to their heels. The merchants on the spur 
of the moment formed a kind of intrenchment of their packs^ 
and collected a great heap of stones inside in case their arrows 
should run short. When the Calcia people found this out^ 
they sent a deputation to the merchants to tell them to fear 
nothing, for they would themselves escort and protect the 
caravan. The merchants, however, were not disposed to put 
trust in these insurgents, and after holding counsel together 
flight was determined on. Somebody or other made this 
design known to the rebels, upon which immediately they 
made a rush forward, knocked over the packs, and took 
whatever they liked. These robbers then called the mer- 
chants out of the jungle (into which they had fled) and gave 
them leave to retire with the rest of their property within 
the empty city walls. Our Benedict lost nothing but one of 
his horses, and even that he afterwards got back in exchange 
for some cotton cloths. They remained in the town in a 
great state of fear lest the rebels should make a general 
attack and massacre the whole of them. But just then a 
certain leading chief, by name Olobet Ebadascan, of the 
Buchara country, sent his brother to the rebels, and he by 



TO CATHAY. 661 

threats iirdnced them to let the merchants go free.^ Through* 
out the whole journey, however, robbers were constantly 
making snatches at the tail of the caravan. And once 
it befel our friend Benedict that he had dropped behind 
the party and was attacked by four brigands who had been 
lying perdus. The way he got off from them was this : he 
snatched off his Persian cap and flung it at the thieves, and 
whilst they were making a football of it our brother had time 
to spur his horse and get a bowshot clear of them, and so 
safely joined the rest of the company. 

After eight days of the worst possible road, they reached 
the Tbnqi Badascian. Tengi signifies a difficult road ; and 
it is indeed fearfully narrow, giving passage to only one at a 
time, and running at a great height above the bed of a river. 
The townspeople here, aided by a band of soldiers, made an 
attack upon the merchants, and our brother lost three 
horses. These, however, also, he was enabled to ransom 
with some small presents. They halted here ten days, and 
then in one day's march reached Ciabciunab, where they 
were detained five days in the open country by rain> and 
suffered not only from the inclemency of the weather, but 
also fi*om another onslaught of robbers. 

From this in ten days they reached Sebpakil ; but this 
was a place utterly desolate and without a symptom of 

« 

human occupation ; and then they came to the ascent of the 
steep mountain called Sacbithma. None but the stoutest of 
the horses could face this mountain ; the rest had to pass by 
a roundabout but easier road. Here two of our brother's 

' Theipe are some doubtful points in reading this. In Trigautins the 
sentence runs : " MisU dws quidam e mammis, nomine Olobet Ebadascan, 
Btiehar<»H9 regione fratrem timm, qui minus Caleienses rti>elle8 adegit ui 
negoHatoreg liberos abire permitterewt" where Olobet Ebadascan ('Ala-Beg 
Ibadat Khan ?) is treated as one name. Perhaps however the original 
ran, " Olobet e Badascan"— " a chief by name 'Aiii-Beg (or Wali-Beg) of 
Badakshan, a country under Bokhara." In the latter clause I have sup- 
posed miniM to be a misprint for minis ; otherwise it must be " induced 
the less rebellious of the Calcha people/' which would be awkward. 

36 



562 JOURNEY OF BKNBDICT GOES 

moles went lame^ and the weary servants wanted to let them 
go, but after aU they were got to follow the others. And so, 
after a journey of twenty days, they reached the province of 
Sabcil, where they fonnd a nomber of hamlets near together. 
They halted there two days to rest the horses, and then in 
two days more reached the foot of the mountain called 
CiBCiALiTH. It was covered deep with snow, and during the 
ascent many were frozen to death, and our brother himself 
barely escaped, for they were altogether six days in the snow 
here. At last they reached Tanohetab, a place belonging 
to the Eongdom of Cascar. Here Isaac the Armenian fell 
off the bank of a great river into the water, and lay as it 
were dead for some eight hours till Benedict's exertions at 
last brought him to. In fifteen days more they reached the 
town of Iakokich, and the roads were so bad that six of our 
brother's horses died of fatigue. After five days more our 
Benedict going on by himself in advance of the caravan 
reached the capital, which is called Hiabchak, and sent back 
horses to help on his party with necessaries for his comrades. 
And so they also arrived not long after safe at the capital, 
with bag and baggage, in November of the same year 1603.^ 

1 The plaoes named in the preceding paragraphs continue to present 
some difficolfy, but in a somewhat less degree than those lately en- 
countered. 

The Tangi-iBadakhBhan, " Straits or Defiles of Badakhshan/' I should 
look for along the Oxus in Darwaz and Shagnan, where the paths appear, 
from what Wood heard, to be much more diiBcult and formidable thui that 
which he followed, crossing from the Eokcha at Fysabad to the Upper Ozns 
in Wakhan, where again the latter river runs in a oomparatiyely open 
valley. The title is well illustrated by Marco Polo's expressions : " En oest 
regno (de Baladan) a maint utroit pas numU fncmvois et si fort que il n'ont 
doute de nullui" (Pawthier^a Ed., p. 121). Ciarciunar is, I suppose, unques- 
tionably the Persian Ckab Chinab, " The four plane>trees." This (Ch£r- 
chin&r) is actually the name of an island in the Lake of Kashmir, formerly 
conspicuous for its four great plane-trees (see Forster's Jowmey), SerpanUg 
desolate and without husuin habitation, I take to be probably Sib-i- 
Pamib, " The head or top of Pamir," the celebrated plateau from which 
the Oxus, JazarteSf Bivers of Tarkand and Kashgar, and the Gilgit 
branch of the Indus derive their headwaters. The anomalous name 



TO CATHAT. 563 



CHAPTER XII. 

The remainder of the Journey to Cathay, and how it is asoertained to be 

all the same as the Chinese empire. 

HiABCHAN^ the capital of the kingdom of Cascar^ is a mart of 
much note^ both for the great concourse of merchants^ and 

SacrWtma may represent a station which appears in Macartney's map on 
the mountains near the head of the Oxns as Sabikbasb. Wilford makes 
some wild work with this name Sacrithma» qnoting Go€e, in his essay on 
the " Isles of the West" in vol. viii of the Aa. Besearche$. The ridge to which 
6k>e8 applies the name must be that which separates the Sirikol from the 
headwaters of the Yarkand Biver. Sarcil may then be, as Bitter sur- 
mised, the district of Sasikul near the said headwaters (see JSmm. in 
CmU. Agia, p. 157 ; BUter, tu, 489, 605 ; iii, 685). CiecialUh (i.e. ChechaHt) 
is then withont doubt that spur of the Bolor running out towards 
Yarkand, which appears on some recent mi^s of Asia as the Chiohxcx 
Taoh, and in Klaproth's map dted by Bitter as Tchetchetlagh, immedi* 
ately north of Sarikul. The passage of this great spur is shown very 
distinctly in a route laid down in Macartney's map (in Blphinatofu^s 
CaubuV), only the author supposed it to be the main chain of the Kara 
Korum. Macartney terms the Col of which Goes gives so formidable an 
account, the Pom of ChiUung, and a station at the northern side of it 
Chvkaklsb, which is probably the Chechalith of our traveller. 

Tangheiar I had supposed to be a mistranscription for Tanghesar, %.e, 
Ingachar or Yanoi-Hibab, an important town forty-seven miles 8.E. of 
Kashgar on the road from that city to Yarkand, an error all the more 
probable as we have Tnsce for Yusoe a little further on. Tungeeta/r, 
however, appears in Macartney's map, and immediately beyond he 
represents the road as bifurcating towards Kashgar and Yarkand. It 
must in any case be near Yengi-Hisar if not identical with it. Taeonic 
I cannot trace. 

Bitter is led by the slight resemblance of names to identify the Char- 
chunar of Gote with Karchu, near the upper waters of the Yarkand, and 
this mistake, as it seems to me, deranges all his interpretation of the 
route of Go€s between Talikan and Sarikul. 

Go& in a letter from Yarkand to Agra spoke of the great difficulties 
and fieitiguee encountered in crossing this desert of Pameeh (Pax ib), in 
which he had lost five horses by the cold. So severe was it, he said, that 
animals could scarcely breathe the air, and often died in consequence. As 
an antidote to this (which, of course, was the effect of attenuated atmo- 
sphere rather than of cold) the men used to eat garlic, leeks, and dried 
apples, and the horses' gums were rubbed with garlic. This desert took 

86 2 



564 jouRN£T oy benedict goes 

for the variety of wares. At this capital the caravan of 
Cabal merchants reaches its terminus ; and a new one is 
formed for the journey to Cathay. The command of this 
caravan is sold by the king^ who invests the chiefs with a 
kind of royal authority over the merchants for the whole 
journey.* A twelvemonth passed away however before the 
new company was formed^ for the way is long and perilous^ 
and the caravan is not formed every year, but only when a 
large number arrange to join it, and when it is known that 
they will be allowed to enter Cathay. There is no article of 
traffic more valuable, or more generally adopted as an in- 
vestment for this journey, than lumps of a certain transparent 
kind of marble which we, from poverty of language, usually 
call jasper. They carry these to the Emperor of Cathay, 
attracted by the high prices which he deems it obligatory 
on his dignity to give; and such pieces *as the Emperor does 
not fancy they are free to dispose of to private individuals. 
The profit on these transactions is so great that it is thought 
amply to compensate for all the fatigue and expense of the 
journey. Out of this marble they fashion a variety of articles, 
such as vases, and brooches for mantles and girdles, which 
when artistically sculptured in flowers and foliage certainly 
have an effect of no small magnificence. These marbles 
(with which the empire is now overflowing) are called by the 
Chinese lusce." There are two kinds of it ; the first and 

forty days to cross if the snow was extensive (Jarrie), Forty days is tlie 
time assigned by Polo also to the passage of tiiis lofty region (ii, 27). 

' Jarrie, from the letters which Gote wrote from Yarkand in Februaxy 
and August, 1604, mentions that the chief whom he eventually accom- 
panied paid the king two hundred bags of musk for the nomination. 
Four others were associated with him as envoys ; and one hundred and 
seventy-two merchants, who purchased this privilege from the chief at a 
high price, insomuch that he cleared a large amount by the transaction. 

' The word as printed in Trigantius is Twee, but this is certainly a 
mistake for lusoe, i.e. TtuM or " Yu stone," the Chinese name of the 
orientaJ jade, the Ta$hm of Western Asiatics (see p. 130 supra). 

The description in the text of the double source of supply of jade is per- 



TO CATHAY. 565 

more valuable is got ont of the river of Cotan^ not far from 
the capital^ almost in the same way in which divers fish for 
gems^ and this is usnally extracted in pieces about as big as^ 
large flints. The other and inferior kind is excavated from 
the mountains ; the larger masses are split into slabs some 
two ells broad and these are then reduced to a size adapted 
for carriage. That mountain is some twenty days' journey 
from this capital (i.e., Yarkand) and is caUed Cansanohi 
Cascio, i.e., the Stone Mountain, being very probably the 
mountain which is so termed in some of the geographical 
descriptions of this empire. The extraction of these blocks 
is a work involving immense labour, owing to the hardness 
of the substance as well as to the remote and lonely position 
of the place. They say that the stone is sometimes softened 
by the application of a blazing fire on the surface. The 
right of quarrying here is also sold by the king at a high 
price to some merchant, without whose license no other 
speculators can dig there during the term of the lease. 
When a party of workmen goes thither they take a year's 
provisions along with them, for they do not usually revisit 
the populated districts at a shorter interval. 

Our brother Benedict went to pay his respects to the king, 
whose name was Mahomed Khan.i The present that he 

fectly in accordance with the Chinese authoiitiee, one kind being fished 
up in bonlder form by divers, from the rivers on each side of the chief 
city of Ehotan, which are called respectively Yunmg-KaBh and Eara-Eash 
(White Jade and Black Jade), and the other kind quarried in large masses 
fix>m the mountain called Mirjai, which is stated by a Chinese writer to 
be two hundred and thirty li (about seventy miles) from Tarkand. From 
the mention of a jade quarry by Mir Izzet XJllah, about half-way from the 
Kara Korum Pass to Yarkand it is probable that the Miijai mountain is 
to be sought thereabouts (see Bitter vii, 880-389). Bitter will have the 
CaU'tangui-Ciucio of our text to be a mistake for Karanffui-Tagh, the name 
which he finds applied to the range in which the rivers of Khotan spring, 
probably a part of the Euen-Lun. But the words are Persian, Kdn aang^ 
uKdsh, "The mine of Kash (or Jade) Stone," KoLsh being the Turki word 
for that mineral. 

1 In origi Mahamethin, for Mahamethan. A letter which Go^ wrote to 
Xavier from Yarkand, 2d February, 1604, mentioned that the excitement 



566 JOURNBT OF BENEDICT GOES 

carried widi him secnred him a good reception^ for it con- 
sisted of a pocket watch, looking glasses, and other European 
curiosities, with which the king was so charmed and 
delighted that he adopted the giver at once into his friend- 
ship and patronage. Oar friend did not at first disclose his 
desire to go to Cathay, bat spoke only of the kingdom of 
Cialis, to the eastward of Cascar, and begged a royal pass- 
port for the jonmey thither. His request was strongly 
backed by the son of that pilgrim queen to whom he had 
lent six hundred pieces of gold.* And he also came to be 
on intimate terms with divers gentlemen of the court. 

created in the city by the announcement of the arriyal of an Armenian 
Bwmi who did not follow the Law of Islam, waa bo great that he thought 
it desirable to pay his respects to the king, and he was weU received. 
The vizir having been attracted by a cross and a book of the Gospels 
(apparently a breviary) which he saw among the baggage, Benedict waa 
desired to produce these at a second audience. The king received the 
book with much reverence, and directed QoSs (to his great joy) to read a 
passage and explain its meaning. He turned up at a venture the anthem 
for Ascension Day, Viri OaUlcoi quid aioHa atpieieniea in Ccdwnf and 
then, in deep emotion at an opportunity so unlocked for, proceeded to 
declare the glorious Ascension of the Saviour before those Mahomedans ; 
adding also some remarks on the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost, and 
on the Advent of Christ to judgment. Opening the book a second time 
he read the 60th (our 51st) Psalm, and took occasion from it to speak of 
repentance. The bearded doctors of the law regarded one another with 
astonishment, and the king also expressed his surprise. The latter then 
requested to see the cross ; and asked "To what quarter did the Christians 
turn in prayer ?" To all« said Benedict, for God ia everywhere. Did they 
use any washings and ceremonial ablutions P None coix>oreal, said he, 
like those of the Mahomedans, to wash away the stains of sin, for these 
were of no profit to the soul ; but spiritual washings, by which souls are 
deanaed from sin's foulness : an answer which seemed to give satisfaction. 
On another occasion (for he was often called to the pslace) the king 
showed him papers inscribed in a certain round and vermiculate 
character, and asked what th^ were. GK>§s when he had read them (in 
what language is not stated) found them to treat of the Trinity, and took 
occasion thei^efrom to speak of the Divine greatness and Omnipotence, 
etc. So much did they all admire what he said, that in turn they began 
to ask " And are these the men whom we have called Kafirs ? Of a truth 
they acknowledge God as well as we." And the king said " Surely it is a 
Mullah that ia speaking !" {JarrieJ. 

This Prince of Khotan had come to Tarkand to meet his mother, and 
showed Benedict much courtesy and g^ratitude for the aid rendered her at 



TO CATHAY. 567 

Six months had passed away when behold Demetrius^ 
one of the original comrades of his journey^ who had stayed 
behind at Cabul^ arrived at Hiarchan. Benedict and Isaac 
the Armenian^ were greatly delighted at his arrival ; bnt 
their joy was of short continaanc6> for very soon after this 
Demetrius caused our friend a great deal of trouble. At 
that time^ with the king's leave^ one of the merchants was 
elected mock emperor^ whilst all the rest^ according to a 
custom of theirs, paid homage to him and offered him pre- 
sents. Demetrius, to save his pocket, held back ; and as 
the emperor had the power of putting rebels against his 
authority in irons, or even of flogging them, Demetrius had 
great difficulty in escaping both penalties. Our Benedict, 
however, by his good management, airanged the whole 
matter, for his intercession and a small present got pardon 
for Demetrius. A greater peril also befel the party, when 
thieves broke into the house, and laid hold of the Armenian 
whom they tied up, putting a dagger to his throat to prevent 
his giving the alarm. The noise however roused Benedict 
and Demetrius, and the robbers made off. 

On another occasion Benedict had gone away to get his 
loan repaid by the mother of the Prince of Quotan.* Her 
capital was ten days' journey distant, and what with going 
and coming, a month had passed and he was still absent. 
So the Saracens took occasion by this to spread false reports 
of Benedict's being dead, alleging him to have been put to 

KabuL He also was gpreatly taken with the readings firom the Scrip - 
tares (ib,) 

1 Khotan^ which may be considered the most central and inaccessible 
state of bJI Asia, was a seat of very ancient civilisation, and was already 
in friendly relations with China in 140 b.c. In the fourth century of 
our era Buddhism was in high development here. Though much of the 
surfiice appears to be rugged mountain, it is interspersed with levels 
which are both fruitful and populous. At this time, like the other states 
of Eastern Turkestan, it was under a Mahomedan chief of Turkish or 
Mongol descent. Khotan is the sulgect of a short chapter in Marco Polo. 
In modem times its only European visitor has been Adolphus Schlagint- 
weit, who never returned to tell his tale. 






568 JOUUNET OF BENEDICT GOES 

death by priests of theirs for refusing to invoke the name of 
their false prophet. And now those initiated priests of theirs 
whom they call Oashishes,^ were endeavouring to lay violent 
hands upon his property^ as that of one who was dead intes- 
tate and without an heir. This matter caused great distress 
to Demetrius and Isaac^ both in their daily sorrow at the 
supposed death of their comrade^ and in the danger of their 
own position. So their joy was twofold when after a while 

9 In orig. Caseisees, Ka»h{sh or Kcuis, from a Syzian root aignifying 
" SernUt,** is the proper Arabic term fur a Christian presbyter. It is the 
term {KashUha) applied by the Syrian Christians of Malabar to their own 
presbyters (Buchanan, Chritt. Beseair,, pp. 97 teqq.); it will be found 
attached to the Syriac names of priests on the ancient monument of 
Singanfo (see Pauthiei^s work on itj pp. 42 $eqqJ) ; and it is also applied 
by the Arabs to Catholic priests. Mount Athos^ according to I^Her- 
belot, is called by the Turks Kaahish Da^hi, from its swarms of clergy. 

By neither Christians nor Mahomedans/' says my friend Mr. Badger, 

is the word adopted to designate any minister of Islam." We have, 
however, many instances of its misapplication to Musidman divines by 
European travellers. And as I find the word given in Vieyra's Portuguese 
DicHonary (ed. Paris, 1862) in the form " Cads— ^ MoorUh Prieet;' it 
seems probable that this misapplication originated in the Peninsula. In 
like manner in India Fakir has come to be applied to the Hindu Jogis 
and other devotees, though properly a Mahomedan denomination. In 
fact, our own application of priest (i.e. presbyter) to ministers of pagan 
worship is in some degree parallel. Only as regaxds Kashish it is notable 
that it seems to have been regarded by European Christians as the spe- 
cific and technical term for a Mahomedan divine, whereas it was in its 
proper oriental application the specific and technical term for a Christian 
presbyter. 

It was in general use by the Catholic missionaries as the term for a 
Mullah ; see Carrie's Jesuit history passim (Coctm) ; P. Yinoenzo the 
Carmelite (Oasis o eon aUro nome Schierifi, p. 56), etc. In Mendes Pinto 
also we have " hum Caciz seu Moulana que elles tinhlko por santo" (cap. v). 

Gonzalez de Clav\jo again speaks of " Moorish hermits called Caxitces," 
and in another passage of " a great Caxix whom th^ look upon as a saint" 
(Ma^kham*s Trans., pp. 79, 114). 

In the description of Khansa in the Mongol History of Waasaf (in 
Persian) it is said : " The city includes seven hundred temples resem- 
bling fortresses, each of which is occupied by a number of priests without 
£uth and monks without religion (kashishin be kesh wa BahaMn be din)" 
(see Qttolremere't Bashid,, p. Ixzzvii). Here the Persian author seems to 
apply to Pagans the terms both for presbyter and monk appropriated to 
Christians, 



TO CATHAY. 569 

he tnm«d up in safety. He returned with his debt paid in 
ample measure with pieces of that valuable stone of which 
we have spoken; and to mark his gratitude to God he made 
a large distribution of alms to the poor^ a custom which he 
kept up throughout his whole journey. 

One day when he had sat down with a company of 
Saracens at a dinner to which one of them had invited him^ 
some fanatic burst in^ sword in hand, and pointing his 
weapon at Benedict's breast desired him instantly to invoke 
the name of Mahomet. Our friend rephed that no such 
name was wont to be invoked in the law which he professed^ 
and that he must absolutely refuse to do so. The bystanders 
then came to his aid^ and the madman was ejected. The 
same threats of death however^ unless he would address 
prayer to Mahomet^ are said to have been directed to him 
repeatedly^ yet God ever delivered him until the end of his 
journey. On another day it happened that the King of 
Gascar sent for him^ when the priests and theologians of the 
accursed faith were present at the courts (they call their 
theologians Mullas,) Being then asked what faith he would 
profess, whether that of Moses, or of David, or of Mahomet, 
and in what direction he would turn his &ce in prayer ? our 
friend replied that the faith he professed was that of Jesus, 
whom they called Isai, and that it mattered not to what 
quarter he turned in prayer, for God was everywhere. This 
last answer of his created a great discussion among them, 
for in prayer they make a point of turning to the west. At 
last they came to the conclusion that our law also might have 
some good in it.^ 

1 At Tarkand there were one hundred and sixty mosques ; and every 
Friday an official went about the baear reminding the people of the duties 
of the day. After this twelve men issued from the chief mosque armed 
with whips of hide, which they laid about those whom they found in the 
streets, absenting themselves from public prayer (Jarrie), The same 
custom is mentioned by Ibn Batuta as existing at Khwarizm in his time, 
and he tried to introduce similar Blue Laws when judge in the Maldives. 
It still prevails in Bokhara [Bumes, u, 243; Va/mbery, p. 186). The pious 



570 JOUfiNBT or BIKBBICT QOSS 

Meantime a certain native named Agtasii was nominated 
chief of the fatnre caravan of merchants. And having 
heard that our brother was a man of courage^ as well as a 
merchant of large dealings, he invited him to a grand enter- 
tainment at his house, at which there was a great concert of 
music after the manner of those people, as well as a dinner. 
After dinner the chief requested our brother to accompany 
the caravan all the way to Cathay. He indeed desired 
nothing better, but experience had taught him how to deal 
with Saracens, so he was glad that the proposal should come 
from the other side, and thus that he should seem to be 
granting rather than accepting a favour. So the king him- 
self was prevailed on by the chief to make the request, and 
did accordingly ask Benedict to accompany tiie Caruaiibasa 
as they caU the chief of the company. Benedict agreed to 
do so on condition that the king would grant him circular 
letters for the whole course of the journey. His former 
comrades, belonging to the Cabul caravan, took offence at 
this, for as has been said, it was always necessary on those 
occasions to travel in large numbers. So they cotmselled 
him against putting any trust in the natives, for these in- 
tended the thing only as a trap by which they might suc- 
ceed in devouring his fortune, and his very life. Our firiend 
however represented that he was acting in accordance with 
the King's expressed wishes, and had given his promise to 
the chief of the caravan, from which as an honest man he 
could not go back. In truth the fears which those merchants 
professed to entertain were not unfounded, for many of the 
natives of the country declared that those three Armenians 
(for so they called them, as being all of one faith) would be 
murdered as soon as they set foot outside the city walls. 
And so Demetrius took fright, and a second time drew back 
from prosecuting the journey further, trying also to persuade 

Mahomed Toghlak enforced like regulations at Dehli when the whim 
took him, sometimes with death as his manner was. 
> Hiyji'Aziz? 



TO GATHAT. 571 

oar brother to go back. Benedict wonld not listen to him, 
saying that he had never yet let himself be deterred by fear 
of death from the duty of obediencCj much loss wonld he do 
so now in a business from which so much glory to God 
might be expected. It would be most unworthy conduct^ 
he said, to frustrate the hopes of so many for fear of death ; 
and to throw away all the expense that had been incurred 
by the Archbishop of Goa and the Viceroy. He hoped 
still to carry through the undertaking by the help of Him 
who had thus far brought him prosperously, but in any case 
he would rather risk his life in the cause than draw back 
from his purpose. 

So he girded up his loins for the journey, and bought ten 
horses for himself and his comrade and their goods, haying 
already one more at his house. Meanwhile the chief of the 
caravan went off to his home, which was some five days 
from the capital, to get ready for the journey, and after his 
arrival sent back a message to our friend to start as soon as 
possible, and to hasten the other merchants by his example. 
He was glad enough to do so, and set out accordingly, in 
the middle of November 1604, proceeding first to a place 
called loLCi, where duties used to be paid and the king's 
passports to be inspected. After this in twenty-five days, 
passing successively Hancialix, Alcaohbt, Haqabatbth, 
EoBiAS, Mbsetelech, Thalec, HoBicA, Thoantac, MmOIEDA, 
Capetal col Zilan, Sabc Guebedal, Canbasci, Aconsebsec 
and CiACOB,* they reached Acsu.^ The difficulties of the 

> I cannot identify one of these plaoee in any roates or mape of Central 
Asia except Canbcuci, which appears in K. Johnston's map of Asia as 
KwnboBhi, and is mentioned in the Bussian Beports as one of the most 
important settlements of the Aksn district (Bnsnam in Central Atia, p. 
160). Of the other names Hancialix translated from Bicci's spelling 
wonld be probably Khan-Chaluh ; Bare Chuhedal is probably the same 
name as Saregabedal which occurs further on ; Aeomersec is possibly the 
Sakaak of Ba^haos's map ; Ciacar is probably Shakyar, which indeed is 
the name of a town some 4f* east of Aksu, but which also appears to be 
common to many other places in the country, if it is not indeed a local 



572 JODBNET OF BENEDICT OOE8 

road were great, either from the quantities of stones, or 
from the waterless tracts of sand which they had to pass. 

Acsa is a town of the kingdom of Cascar, and the chief 
there was a nephew of the king's, and only twelve years of 
age. He sent twice for our brother. The latter carried 
him presents of sweetmeats and the like, such as would be 
acceptable to a child, and was most kindly received. A 
grand dance happening to be performed before them, the 
young prince asked Benedict how the people of his country 
used to dance ? and so Benedict, not to be churlish with a 
prince about so small a matter, got up and danced him- 
self to show the way of it. He also visited the prince's 

form of the Persian 8Kahr (city). This is sagfgeeted by the fiiict that 
Karathahr appears in one of the routes in the book jost quoted as Kara- 
ahagiar (R. in C. A., p. 527). The journey here is said to occupy twenty- 
five days, but the stages mentioned are sixteen. The latter is the num- 
ber of stages according to the Chinese route in the Bum. in Central Atia, 
pp. 631-533, though none of the names correspond. It is also the number 
of stages assigned by the T%jik itinerary firom Semipalatinsk to Kashmir 
which is given in the appendix to Meyendorf s Bokhara. The Georgian 
Baphael Danibeg was thirteen days fiK>m Yiurkand to Aksu. (l/eyendorf, 
pp. 314 seq. and 122 seqq.) 

' Akau, a city of Chinese Tartary, lying to the south of the glacier pass 
over the Mus-Tagh (and according to the tables in B, in C. A,, p. 521) in 
long. 78° 58', lat. 41° 9'. According to that authority it contains twelve 
thousand houses, though Timkowski states the number more probably at 
six thousand. It stands at the confluence of the Bivers Aksu (white- 
water) and Kokshal ; it is the central point of the Chinese trade, and from 
it diverge all the great routes towards China, the Ili country, and the 
cities both of Eastern and Western Turkestan. The tract immediately 
surrounding it is one of some fertility, producing a variety of fruits in- 
cluding grapes and melons, besides cereals and cotton. There is a manu- 
facture of jade articles, and of embroidered deerskin saddlery. Aksu ap- 
pears in the Chinese annals, according to Degnignes, as early as the 
second century b.c. under the Han dynasty, as having a Chinese Governor. 
Deguignes and D'Anville think it to be the Aumacia of Ptolemy. It was 
at one time the residence of the Eingrs of Kashgar and Tarkand. From 
Aksu the high pass, called by the Chinese the " Pass of Glaciers," leads 
over that lofty part of the Thian Shan called the Mux-art, or Icy Moun- 
tains to Ku^a, the seat of the Chinese General Government of Dsungaria 
and Turkestan. (Bu8s. in C. A., pp. 112, 119, 159; THmkotoski i, 391 ; 
Deguignes i, 26; zi, xxxix; Bitter vii, 431, 449). 



TO CATUAY. 578 

mother and showed her the royal rescript, which she looked 
on with great respect. To her he presented some little 
things such as women like^ a looking glass, India muslin, 
and so forth. He was also sent for by the boy's governor 
who conducted the administration. 

In this journey one of the pack horses belonging to our 
merchant fell into a very rapid river. In fact having 
broken the rope with which its feet (I know not why) were 
tied, it made off and crossed to the other side of the river. 
Benedict feeling the loss a serious one invoked the name of 
Jesus ; and the horse of his own accord swam back to join 
the others, and our fiiend, delivered from the anticipated 
misfortune, returned thanks for the benefit vouchsafed. On 
this part of the journey they crossed the desert which is 
called Caragathai, or the Black Land of the Cathayans, 
because His said that the people so called long sojourned 
there.* 

At this town (Acsu) they had to wait fifteen days for the 
arrival of the rest of the merchants. At last they started, 
and travelled to Oitogbach Gazo, Casciani, Dxllai, 
Sabeoabedal, and Ugak, after which they got to Cucia,^ 
another small town at which they halted a whole month to 

1 Kara»Khiiai*hBB already been spoken of and the origin of the name 
indicated in connection with an extract from Babriqais (iupra, pp. 176-8), 
and ite'people are mentioned by Piano Carpini under the translated name 
of Nigri Kitai (pp. 750-1), The extent of the territory to which the name 
applied probably varied considerably, bat ite nudeue or axis rather seems 
to have been the range of the Thian Shan. Here it is applied to the 
desert south of that chain. The name has come down to modem times, 
for we find it applied in 1811 {Khara-Kitat) to a portion of theiohabitante 
of the Hi ooontry (Klaproih, Mag, AtioHque i, 209). 

* None of these places except the last can be traced either in the 
Chinese rentes given in the Btusians in Central Atia, or in the route set 
down by Mir Izzet UUah, Moorcroffs explorer. Kticha itself is a place of 
some importance, containing according to Timkowski's information about 
one thousand houses, and considered by the Chinese to be the key of this 
part of Turkestan. The Chinese route says ** a veiy large town, composed 
of one hundred thousand (!) houses, occupied by Musulmans j six hundred 
Chinese soldiers." 



574 JOUBNBT OF BEKEDICT OOBS 

rest their cattle^ for these were nearly done np^ what with 
the difficulties of the road^ the weight of the marble which 
they carried^ and the scarcity of barley. At this place onr 
traveller was asked by the priests why he did not fast dar- 
ing their appointed time of fasting. This was asked in 
order that he might offer a bribe for exemption, or that 
they might extract a fine from him. And they were not far 
from laying violent hands on him, to force him into their 
place of worship. 

Departing hence, after twenty-five days' journey they 
came to the city of Cialis, a small place indeed, but 
strongly fortified. This territory was governed by an 
illegitimate son of the King of Cascar, who, when he heard 
that oar brother and his party professed a different faith, 
began to utter threats, saying that it was too audacious a 
proceeding that a man professing another creed should 
intrude into that country, and that he would be quite 
justified in taking both his life and his property. But when 
he had read the royal letters which Benedict carried he was 
pacified, and after the latter had made him a present he 
became quite friendly. One night when this prince had 
been long engaged with the priests and doctors of his faith 
in one of their theological discussions, it suddenly came 
into his head to send for Benedict, so he despatched a horse 
for him and desired him to come to the palace. The strange 
hour at which this message came, and the harsh reception 
which they had at first experienced from the Prince, left 
little doubt with Benedict's party that he was sent for to be 
put to death. So having torn himself from his Armenian 
comrade, not without tears, and earnestly begging him to 
do his uttermost, if he at least should escape the present 
danger, to carry the news of his fellow traveller's fate to the 
members of the Society, Benedict went off fully prepared to 
meet his death. On getting to the palace he was desired 
to engage in a discussion with the Doctors of the Mahomedan 



TO CATHAY. . 575 

Law ; and inspired by Him who has said. It shall be given 
you in thai hour what ye shall say, he maintained the tmth 
of the Christian religion by such apt reasoning that the 
others were qnite silenced and defeated. The Prince con- 
stantly fixed his attention on our brother, expressing ap- 
proyal of everything that he said, and finally pronounced 
his conclusion that Christians were really Misermans, or 
True Believers, adding that his own ancestors had been 
professors of their faith.^ After the discussion was over, 
Benedict was entertained at a sumptuous supper and desired 
to spend the night at the palace. And it was late next day 
before he was allowed to leave, so that Isaac quite despaired 
of his return. Indeed Benedict found him weeping griev- 
ously, for the long delay had fuUy convinced him of his 
master's death. 

In this city^ they halted three whole montiis, for the chief 

> This is a carious trace of the andent Christianity of several of the 
Mongolian and Turkish tribes. 

' Bitter in one place suggests that Cidlis of Gk>§s may be Karashahr, 
but in another he wiU have it to be TulduM, a place lying among the 
mountains of the Thian-Shan, celebrated for its beauty, its springs, 
meadows, and fine breezes, which was the encamping ground of Timur 
after his campaign of extermination against the Jats. Bitter had also 
previously identified Tuldnz with the CaUac of Bubruquis. 

The notion that Tulduz was Cialis seems to have been originated 
by Petis de la Croix in his translation of Sharifhddin's Ltfe of Timur. 
ly Anville also has identified CiaUs with the Cailac of Bubruquis ; both 
identifications seem to me to be wrong. 

Tulduz lies in the mountains, a long way to the left of the great route 
along the foot of the Thian Shan, which the caravan followed. Shah 
Bukh's ambassadors indeed pass Tulduz, on their way to Tnrfim and 
iTftaniil- But it is clear that from Tashkand they took a r^ute north of 
the Thian Shan, and were passing fiK>m the north to the south of the 
mountains yrhen they touched at Tulduz. 

The real position of Cialis must be either identical with Karashahr, as 
D' Anville thought, or close to it. The chief places noted in nearly all 
the routes and maps of this line of country are Aksu, Kucha, Karashahr, 
Turfim, Pyan, and Kamul. All these are mentioned by QoSs except 
Karashahr, and where Karashahr should come, he gives us Cialis. D* An- 
ville, indeed, observes that Seialik would mean, in Persian, the same as 
Karashahr, or Black Town (?). But the name seems to be not SiyaUi, or 



576 JOURNEY OP BENEDICT 00B8 

of ihe merchants did not wish to set out until a large partjr 
should have collected^ for the larger it was, the more 
profitable for him : and for this reason he would not consent 
on any account that individuals of the company should go 
on before. Our brother, however, weary of the delay and 
of J^he great expense which it involved, was eager to get 
away ; and by means of new presents he at last persuaded 
the Prince to arrange measures for his departure. But this 
was so completely against the wish of the chief of the 



SiyaUk, but Chdlu, or rather CkdlUh. This (JalUh) is mentioned by 
Sharifuddin as a place which Timor passed on his way to Yoldoz ; and 
by Haidar Bazi, the historian of Turkestan, Jaliah is spoken of aa a 
city near Turfan, both pkhces being under a prince called Mansur Khan, 
who is mentioned about ▲. h. 938 (a. d. 1531), aa marching by Jolii^ to 
attack Aksu. Bamusio's friend, Hcyji Mahomed, also mentions Chialis 
exactly where Karashahr should come, as may be seen by comparing his 
route with Iszet Ullah's : — 

Inaet UUah, Hajji M<ihomed, 

Eamul to Turfiui . . 13 days. Kamul to Tnrfan . 13 days. 

Turfiaii to Kabashahb 9 „ Tur£Ein to Chialis 10 „ 

Ka&ashahb to Kucha 10 „ Chialis to Kucha . 10 „ 

and this seems to put the identity of Cialis with S[arashahr past question. 

Karashahr, anciently called by the Chinese Yenki, stands on the 
Kaidu river, which irrigates the country round, and makes it bear 
plenty of frnit and com. The Chinese route, elsewhere quoted, speaks 
of it as a large town inhabited by Chinese, with Kalmucks round them, 
and having a Chinese garrison of 600 men. 

As regards the Cailae of Bubruquis, it seems rather to be sought where 
D'Avezac has placed it in the vicinity of Lake Balkash, or at any rate, 
to the north of the Thian Shan. It is mentioned by D'Ohsson as a 
town of the Karligh Turks, who lay in this direction, and is coupled with 
Imil and Bishbalig, both cities north of the mountains. Sadik Isfifk- 
hani also naises Ealigh with Almalig, Bishbalig, etc. It is probably the 
Haulak or Khaulak of Edrisi, in a route given in his work (ii, 215), which 
bringrs it within eight days' journey of Akhsi, a city on the J^artes near 
Kokand. It is perhaps the Kainak which Valikhanoff mentions as a 
place £unous in the ancient (Genoese trade, and still existing in Dsun- 
gaiia, but he does not indicate where that is (Bitter, vii, 437, 439, 441-2 ; 
H. d« Timur Bee, ii, 53-56; jyAnvUU, in Aead, Inscript., xxxii, 589; 
J. JR. As, Soe., vii, 308; Not. et Bmtraits, xiv; Bamutio, Eepotinofie, in ii, 
ff. 14-16; lyOhseon, i, iii, 166; ii, 516; Sadik U/ahani, p. 10; Buss, in 
Cent. Asia, pp. 62, 527). 



TO CATHAY. 577 

caravan and his party^ that it put an end to the friendly 
terms on which Benedict had hitherto stood with them. 

He was just preparing for his departure from the town of 
Cialis when the merchants of the preceding caravan arrived 
on their return from Cathay. They had made their way to 
the capital of Cathay as usual by pretending to be an 
embassy ; and as they had been quartered in Peking at the 
same hostelry with the members of our Society^ they were 
able to give our brother most authentic information about 
Father Matthew and his companions^ and in this way he 
learned to his astonishment that China was the Cathay that 
he was in search of. 

These were the same Saracens of whom it has been related 
in a preceding book^ that they had dwelt for nearly three 
months under the same roof with our brethren. They were 
able to tell therefore how our brethren had made presents 
to the Emperor of sundry clocks^ a clavichord^ pictures^ 
and other such matters from Europe. They related also how 
our brethren were treated with respect by all the dignitaries 
at the capital^ and (mixing falsehood with truth) how they 
were often admitted to converse with the Emperor. They 
also described accurately enough the countenances of the 
members of the Society whom they had seen, but they 
could not tell their names, it being a Chinese custom to 
change the names of foreigners. They also produced the 
strangest corroboration of their story in a piece of paper on 
which something in the Portuguese language had been 
written by one of our brethren, and which the travellers had 
rescued from the sweepings of the rooms and preserved, 
in order that they might show it as a memorial to their 
friends at home, and tell them how the people that used this 
kind of writing had found their way to China. Our travellers 
were greatly refreshed with all this intelligence, and now 
they could no longer doubt that Cathay was but another 
name for the Chinese Empire, and that the capital which the 

37 



578 JOURNRY OF BENEDICT GOES 

Mahomedans called Cambala was Peking^ which indeed Bene- 
dict before leaving India had known^ from the letters of oar 
members in Chinay to be the view taken by them. 

As he was departing^ the prince granted him letters for 
his protection^ and when a qnestion arose nnder what name 
he wished to be described and whether he would haye him- 
self designated as a Christian ? Certainly^ said he^ ''for hay- 
ing travelled thus far bearing the name of Jesas, I wonld 
surely bear it unto the end/' It so chanced that this was 
heard by one of the Mahomedan priests^ a venerable old 
man^ who snatching off his cap flang it on the ground and 
exclaimed^ '' In veriiy and truth this man is staunch to his 
religion^ for lo here in presence of thee a prince of another 
faith^ and of all the rest of us^ he has no hesitation in con- 
fessing his Jesus ! 'tis very different with our people, for they 
are said to change their religion with their residence/' And 
so turning to our traveller, he treated him with extraordinary 
courtesy. Thus even in the dark virtue is lustrous, and even 
from hostility and ill-will it extorts respect I 

He set off at last with his comrade and a few others, and 
in twenty days came to Pucian, a town of the same kingdom, 
where they were received by the chief of the place with the 
greatest kindness, and supplied with the necessary provisions 
from his house. Hence they went on to a fortified town 
called TuEPHAN, and there they halted a month.^ Next they 
proceeded to Aeamuth,' and thence to Camul,' another 

1 Pijan (Pucia/n of the text) and Tarfan appear in some way to have 
been transpoeed, for both Izzet UUah and the Chinese routes agree with 
the maps in making Pgan lie considerably to the east of Tor&n. Aooord- 
ing to the tables of the Chinese survey, the former lies in lat. 42° 62', 
long. 90*» 28*5 the latter in lat. 43« 4', long. 89° 18* (Buss, in Cent, Asia, 
p. 621)'. 

When Shah Bukh's ambassadors passed this way in 1419, most of the 
people of Turfan were still idolators; there was a huge temple in the 
town, with a figure of Sakya Muni on the platform. 

< Aramuth, aooording to Petis de la Croix, is Kara Khoja (see sttpra, 
p. 275), but I suspect he is speaking without authority, as he often does. 
Thus, when speaking of the forerunners of Timur's invasion of India, 



TO CATHAY. 570 

fortified town. Here they stopped another month to refresh 
themselyes and their beasts^ being glad to do so at a town 
which was still within the limits of the kingdom of Cialis^ 
where they had been treated with so much civility. 

From Gamul they came in nine days to the celebrated 
northern wall of Ghina^ reaching it at the place called 
Chiaicuon/ and there they had to wait twenty-five days for 
an answer from the Viceroy of the province. When they 
were at last admitted within the wall^ they reached^ after 
one more day's travelling, the city of Sucibu. Here they 
heard much about Peking and other names with which they 
were sicquaintedy and here Benedict parted with his last 
lingering doubt as to the identity in all but name of Cathay 
and China. 

The country between Cialis and the Chinese frontier has 
an evil fame on account of its liability to Tartar raids, and 
therefore this part of the road is traversed by merchants 



who, after Grossing the Indus, reach Uehh before advancing against Mul- 
tan, he notes " Ouichah, vUle k I'orient de I'lndos cnk nord de Moltan/' 
he is simply patting forth his own erroneous deductions from the text 
as a piece of independent knowledge. And when Pauthier quotes from 
the same author (Polo, p. 197), a professed extract from the Tasa of. 
Chinghiz as corroborating, with extraordinary minuteness, certain state- 
ments of Marco, I suspect it will prove that Petis de la Croix had merely 
borrowed the said statements from Polo himself (ff. de Timur Bee, ii, 46). 
Shah Rukh's people reach Kar<i-Khoja in three days from Turfiui ; in 
fourteen days more, Ata-Sufi; and in two days more, Kamul. 

' Kamil, Kamul, Komul, Hami of the Chinese, and formerly called by 
them Igu, an ancient city of the Uigur country, has already been spoken 
of (tupra, p. 390). It is the point of departure for crossing the desert 
into China, and near it the road from China branches, one line going 
north of the Thian Shan, by Barkul, the XJrumtsi district, and Eurkara- 
usu to Bi; the other south of the mountains, by which Go6z came. 
Kamul is now the seat of the great commissariat depots of the Chinese 
for the garrisons of Turkestan. The climate of Kamul appears to be 
Teiy mild, for oranges are grown there (R, in C. ABxa, p. 129). 

1 KUt-^'Koan, or the " Jade Gate," of the Great Wall, the Jaigu- 
ouden of Mir Izzet Ullah's route. Koan, in Chinese, is a fort guarding 
a defile (Bitter, ii, 213 ; IfOKaton, ii, 626; /. R. Ab. Soc, vii, 288, ieqq.). 
This place is probably the KaraUd of Shah Bukh's people. 

37 a 



580 JOURNEY OP BENEDICT GOES 

with great fear. In the day time they reconnoitre from the 
neighbouring hills^ and if they consider the road safe they 
prosecute their journey by night and in silence. Our 
travellers found on the way the bodies of sundry Mahome- 
dans who had been miserably murdered. Tet the Tartars 
rarely slay the natives^ for they call them their slaves and 
shepherds^ from whose flocks and herds they help them- 
selves. These Tartars make use neither of wheat nor of 
rice^ nor of any kind of pulse, for they say such things are 
food for beasts and not for men ; they eat nothing but fleshy 
and make no objection to that of horses, mules, or camels. 
Yet they are said to be very long Uved, and indeed not unfre- 
quently survive to more than a hundred. The Mahomedan 
races who live on the Chinese frontier in this direction have 
no warlike spirit, and might be easily subdued by the 
Chinese, if that nation were at all addicted to making con- 
quests. 

In this journey it happened one night that Benedict was 
thrown from his horse and lay there half dead, whilst his 
companions who were all in advance went on in ignorance 
of what had happened. In fact it was not till the party 
^arrived at the halting place that Benedict was missed. His 
comrade Isaac went back to 9eek him, but the search 
in the dark was to no purpose, until at last he heard 
a voice calling on the name of Jesus. Following the sound 
he found Benedict, who had g^ven up all hope of being able 
to follow his companions, so that his first words were, ''What 
angel has brought thee hither to rescue me from such a 
plight V By help of the Armenian he was enabled to reach 
the halting place and there to recover from his fall. 






TO CATHAY. 581 



CHAPTER XIII. 

How oar Brother Benedict died in the Chinese territory, after the 
arrival of one of our members who had been sent firom Pekin to 
hifl aagistanoe. 

Towards the northern extremity of the western frontier of 
China the celebrated wall comes to an end, and there is a 
space of about two hundred miles through which the Tartars, 
prevented by the wall from penetrating the northern frontier, 
used to attempt incursions into China, and indeed they do 
so still, but with less chance of success. For two very 
strongly fortified cities, garrisoned with select troops, have 
been established on purpose to repel their attacks. These 
cities are under a special Viceroy and other officials deriving 
their orders direct from the capital. In one of these two 
cities of the province of Scensi, which is called Canceu, is 
the residence of the Viceroy and other chief officers ; the 
other city called Socieu,^ has a governor of its own, and is 
divided into two parts. In oue of these dwell the Chinese, 
whom the Mahomedans here call Cathayans, in the other the 

> Sueheu, the Succuir of Marco Polo, the Sukchu of Shah Bukh's em- 
bassy, and the Sowchich of Anthony Jenkinson's reports. The Persian 
enToys describe it (1419) as a great city of a perfectly square form, with 
a strong fort. The bazars were fifty cubits in width, kept olean and 
watered. There were four gates on each side, and behind (over P) each 
gate was a pavilion of two stories with a roof en doa d^dne after the 
Chinese fiishion. The streets were paved with vitrified brick, and there 
were many great temples. See also Hajji Mahomed in Notes to Prelim. 
Essay. 

Canceu is the stiU existing Eaneheu, the Canpician of Polo, the Camexu 
of Pegolotti, the Kamchii. or Kamiu of Bashid and the Ambassadors (see 
supra, p. 270). The latter say it was nine posts from Sukchu, and was 
the seat of the Dankshi or chief governor of the frontier. They describe 
here a great temple, and one of those gigantic recumbent figures, repre- 
senting Gkbutama in a state of Nirwana, which are stiU to be seen in 
Ceylon, Burma, and Slam. This one was fifty paces long, with figures of 
other divinities and Bakahia round about, executed with great vivacity. 
There was also a singular pagoda of timber, fifteen stories high, which 
turned upon a pivot. Here the envoys had to deposit their baggage, and 
received thereafter all supplies from the Chinese government. 



582 JOURNEY OF BICNEDICT GOES 

Mahomedans who have come for purposes of trade from the 
kingdom of Cascar and other western regions. There are 
many of these who have entangled themselves with wives 
and children^ so that they are almost regarded as natives, 
and will never go back. They are much in the position of 
the Portuguese who are settled at Akacao in the province 
of Canton, but with this difference, that the Portuguese live 
under their own laws and have magistrates of their own, 
whereas these Mahomedans are under the government of 
the Chinese. Indeed they are shut up every night within 
the walls of their own quarter of the city, and in other 
matters are treated just like the natives, and are subject in 
every thing to the Chinese magistrates. The law is that 
one who has sojourned there for nine years shall not be 
allowed to return to his country. 

To this city are wont to come those western merchants, 
who, under old arrangements between seven or eight king- 
doms in that quarter and the Empire of China, have leave 
of admission every sixth year for two-and-seventy persons, 
who under pretence of being ambassadors go and offer 
tribute to the Emperor. This tribute consists of that trans- 
lucent marble of which we spoke before, of small diamonds, 
ultramarine, and other such matters ; and the so-called 
ambassadors go to the capital and return from it at the 
public expense. The tribute is merely nominal, for no one 
pays more for the marble than the Emperor does, consider- 
ing it to be beneath his dignity to accept gifts from foreigners 
without return. And indeed their entertainment from the 
Emperor is on so handsome a scale, that, taking an average 
of the whole, there can be no doubt that every man pockets 
a piece of gold daily over and above all his necessary ex- 
penses.^ This is the reason why this embassy is such an 

^ Martini and Alv arez Semedo speak in similar terms of the embassies, 
or pretended embassies, that came periodically to Peking from Central 
Asia. The latter says that their present to the Emperor always consisted 
of 1,000 arrobas, or 1,333 Italian pounds, of jado, 300 being of the very 



TO CATHAY. 583 

object of competition^ and why the nomination to it is pur- 
chased with great presents from the chief of the caravan^ 
with whom it lies. When the time comes the soi-disant 
ambassadors forge public letters in the names of the kings 
whom they profess to represent^ in which the Emperor of 
China is addressed in obsequious terms. The Chinese 
receive embassies of a similar character from various other 
kingdoms^ such as Codiin-China^ Sian^ Leuchieu^ Corea^ 
and from some of the petty Tartar kings^ the whole causing 
incredible charges on the public treasury. The Chinese 
themselves are quite aware of the imposture^ but they allow 
their Emperor to be befooled in this manner^ as if to per* 
suade him that the whole world is tributary to the Chinese 
empire^ the fact being rather that China pays tribute to 
those kingdoms. 

Our Benedict arrived at Socieu in the end of the year 
1 605^ and it shows how Divine Providence watched over 
him^ that he came to the end of this enormous journey with 
ample means^ and prosperous in every way. He had with 
him thirteen animals^ five hired servants, two boys^ whom 
he had bought as slaves, and that surpassing piece of jade ; 
the total value of his property being reckoned at two thousand 
five hundred pieces of gold. Moreover both he and his com- 
panion Isaac were in perfect health and strength. 

At this city of Socieu he fell in with another party of 
Saracens just returned from the capital, and these confirmed 
all that he had already been told about our fathers at Pekin, 
adding a good deal more of an incredible and extravagant 

finoBt quality; 840 horseB ; SCO veiy smaU diamonds; about 100 pounds 
of fine ultramarine ; 600 knives ; 600 files. This was the old prescriptive 
detail which none might change. The cost price of the whole might be 
some 7,000 crowns, but the Emperor's return present was worth 60,000 
(p. 27 ; see also narrative firom Busbeck in Notes to Essay at beginning 
of the volume). 

These sham embassies, disguising trading expeditions, were of old 
standing in China, going back at least to the days of the Sung Emperors. 
{BemuMat, in Mem. de VAead,, viii, 77-78). 



584 JOURNEY OF B£NifiDICT GOES 

nature; for example^ that they had from the Emperor a 
daily allowance of silver^ not connted to them^ bat measured 
out in bulk ! So. he now wrote to Father Matthew to inform 
him of his arrival. His letter was intrusted to certain 
Chinamen^ but as he did not know the Chinese names of 
our fathers^ nor the part of the city in which they lived, 
and as the letter was addressed in European characters, the 
bearers were unable to discover our people. At Easter 
however he wrote a second time, and this letter was taken 
by some Mahomedan who had made his escape from the 
city, for they also are debarred from going out or coming in, 
without the permission of the authorities. In this letter he 
explained the origin and object of his journey, and begged 
the fathers to devise some way of rescuing nim from the 
prison in which he found himself at Socieu, and of restoring 
him to the delight of holding intercourse with his brethren, 
in place of being perpetually in the company of Saracens. 
He mentioned also his wish to return to India by the sea 
route, as usually followed by the Portuguese. 

The fathers had long ere this been informed by the 
Superior's letters from India of Benedict's having started 
on this expedition, and every year they had been looking 
out for him, and asking diligently for news of him whenever 
one of those companies of merchants on their pretended 
embassy arrived at court. But till now they had never 
been able to learn any news of him, whether from not know- 
ing the name under which he was travelling, or because the 
ambassadors of the preceding seasons really had never heard 
of him. 

The arrival of his letter therefore gave great pleasure to 
the fathers at Peking. It was received late in the year, in 
the middle of November, and they lost no time in arranging 
to send a member of the Society to get him away some how 
or other and bring him to the capital. However on re-con- 
sidemtion they gave up that scheme, for the bringing fm- 



V 



TO CATHAY. 585 

other foreigner into the business seemed Ukely to do 
harm rather than good. So they sent one of the pupils who 
had lately been selected to join the Society Jbut had not yet 
entered on his noviciate'. His name was John Ferdinand^ 
he was a young man of singular prudence and virtue^ and 
one whom it seemed safe to entrust with a business of this 
nature. One of the converts acquainted with that part of 
the country was sent in company with him. His instruc- 
tions were to use all possible means to get away Benedict 
and his party to the capital^ but if he should find it absolutely 
impossible either to get leave from the officials or to evade 
their vigilance^ he was to stop with our brother^ and send 
back word to the members of the Society. In that case it 
was hoped that by help of friends at Courts means would be 
found to get him on from the frontier. 

A journey of this nature might seem unseasonable enough 
at a time of the year when winter is at the height of severity 
in those regions ; and the town at which Benedict had been 
detained was nearly four months journey from Peking. But 
Father Matthew thought no further delay should be risked^ 
lest the great interval that had elapsed should lead Benedict 
to doubt whether we really had members stationed at Peking. 
And he judged well^ for if the journey had been delayed but 
a few days longer the messengers would not have found 
Benedict among the Hving. They carried him a letter from 
Fathew Matthew^ giving counsel as to the safest manner of 
making the journey, and two other members of the Society 
also wrote to him, giving full details about our afiairs in 
that capital, a subject on which he was most eager for in- 
formation. 

Our Benedict in the meantime, during his detention at 
that city, endured more annoyance from the Mahomedans 
than had befallen him during the whole course of his journey. 
Also, on account of the high price of food in the place, he 
was obliged to dispose of his large piece of jade for little 



58(3 JOUKN£Y OF BENEDICT ODES 

more than half its value. He got for it twelve hundred 
pieces of gold^ a large part of which went to repay money 
which he had borrowed, whilst with the rest he maintained 
his party for a whole year. Meanwhile the caravan of mer- 
chants with their chief arrived. Benedict was obliged to 
exercise hospitality, and in course of time was reduced to 
such straits that he had to borrow money to maintain his 
party ; this all the more because owing to his nomination as 
one of the seventy-two ambassadors he was obliged (again) 
to purchase some fragments of jade. He hid a hundred 
pounds of this in the earth to preserve it from any tricks of 
the Mahomedans, for without a supply of this article he 
would have been absolutely incapacitated from taking part in 
the journey to Peking. 

John Ferdinand left Peking on the eleventh of December 
in that year ; and his journey also was attended with a new 
misfortune, for at Sinqhan, the capital of the province of 
SciENSi, his servant ran away, robbing him of half his 
supplies for the journey. Two months more of a fatiguing 
journey however brought him to Socieu^ in the end of March 
1607. 

He found our Benedict laid low with a disease unto death. 
The very night before it had been intimated to him, whether 
by dream or vision, that on the following day one of the Society 
would arrive from Peking ; and upon this he had desired his 
comrade the Armenian to go to the bazar and buy certain 
articles for distribution among the poor, whilst at the same 
time he earnestly prayed God not to suffer the hopes raised 
by his dream to be disappointed. Whilst Isaac was still in 
the bazar some one told him of the arrival of John Ferdinand 
from Peking, and pointed him out. The latter followed the 
Armenian home, and as he entered saluted our brother Bene- 
dict in the Portuguese tongue. From this he at once under- 
stood what the arrival was, and taking the letters he raised 
them aloft with tears of joy in his eyes, and burst into the hymn 



\ 



TO CATHAY. 587 

of Nunc dimittis. For now it seemed to him that indeed his 
commission was a<;compHshed, and his pilgrimage at an en^. 
He then read the letters, and all that night kept them near his 
heart. The words that were spoken, the questions that were 
asked may be more easily conjectured than detailed. John 
Ferdinand did his beat to nurse him, hoping that with re- 
covered strength he might yet be able to undertake the 
journey to Peking. But strength there was none ; as indeed 
physician there was none, nor proper medicines ; nor was 
there anything to do him good in his ilhiess, unless it were 
some European dishes which John Ferdinand cooked for him. 
And thus, eleven day« after the latter^s arrival, Benedict 
breathed his last ; not without some suspicion of his having 
been poisoned by the Mahomedans. 

These latter had fellows always on the watch, in order to 
pounce upon whatever the dead man might leave. This they 
did in the most brutal manner ; but no part of the loss which 
they caused was so much to be deplored as the destruction 
of the journal of his travels, which he had kept with great 
minuteness. This was a thing the Mahomedans fell on with 
open jaws I For the book also contained acknowledgments 
of debt which might have been used to compel many of them 
to repay the sums which they had shamelessly extracted from 
him. They wished to bury the body after their Mahomedan 
ritual, but Ferdinand succeeded in shutting out their impor- 
tunate priests, and buried him in a decent locality where it 
would be practicable to find the body again. And those 
two, the Armenian and John Ferdinand, having no service- 
books, devoutly recited the rosary as they followed his bier. 
It seems right to add a few words in commemoration of a 
character so worthy. Benedict. Goes, a native of Portugal, 
a man of high spirit and acute intellect, on his first entrance 
into the societyVas sent as a volunteer to join the mission 
in the Mogul Empire. For many years he gave most active 
aid to that mission, instructing Mahomedans, Hindus, and 



588 JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES 

converts as far as his own acquirements went, and gaining 
the love of all as he did so. Yet he was not a priest ; but 
he was held in high esteem for his gfreat good sense and 
other valuable qualities natural and acquired. Hence also 
he was admitted to the intimate friendship of the Mogul 
Sovereign, and when this prince was despatching an embassy 
to Goa, along with his own envoy he sent Benedict also in 
the same character. 

This king indeed entertained a project for the conquest of 
(Portuguese) India, and it may be ascribed to Benedict's 
prudence that war with so powerful a monarch was averted. 

A short time before his death he wrote to warn our mem- 
bers at Peking never to put faith in Mahomedans, and also in 
deprecation of any future attempts to travel by the route 
which he Had followed, as being both dangerous and useless. 
A circumstance is well-known in our Society which manifests 
the holy character of the man. Remarking how many years 
had past without the opportunity of confession and absolu- 
tion, ''I am dying,'' he said, "without this consolation, and 
yet how great is God's goodness 1 For He does not allow 
my conscience to be disturbed with anything of moment in 
the review of my past life !" 

A truly abominable custom prevailed among those mer- 
chants, that the property of anyone dying on the way should 
be divided among the rest of the company. On this account 
they laid hold of Isaac the companion of Benedict, and tied 
him up, threatening him with death unless he would call 
upon the name of Mahomed. Ferdinand, however, sent a 
memorial to the Viceroy at Canceu claiming Isaac's b'bera- 
tion. The Viceroy passed his orders on the petition, desiring 
the Governor of Socieu to decide according to right and jus- 
tice, and to restore the youth's uncle to him with the pro- 
perty of the deceased. At first the governor was favourable 
to Ferdinand, but when some forty of the Saracens joined 
together to bribe him, he then threatened to flog Ferdinand, 



TO CATHAY. 589 

and kept him three days in prison. The latter did not^ how- 
ever^ a bit the more desist from his undertakings but when 
he ran short of money to prosecute his suit, he sold all the 
clothes that he could do without to raise a small sum. He 
was detained for five months about this business^ and yet 
had no means of communicating with the Armenian^ from 
his ignorance of Persian ; the other being equally unable to 
speak either Portuguese or Latin. When they were called 
before the Court, Ferdinand recited the Lord's Prayer, 
whilst Isaac repeated the name of Benedict Goes with a few 
words of Portuguese ; and as nobody understood a word of 
what either of them said, the judge gave it as his opinion 
that they were talking in the Canton dialect, and understood 
each other perfectly ! Latterly, however, Ferdinand learned 
in about two months to talk Persian, and so was able to 
converse with the Armenian. 

Sometimes the Mahomedans raised objections from the 
extreme discrepancy of their physiognomies, which they 
said evidently betrayed one to be a Saracen and the other a 
Chinaman. But Ferdinand answered that his mother had been 
Chinese, and that he took the character of his features after 
her. Nothing, however, moved the judge so much as what 
occurred one day when Ferdinand declared before the Court 
that Isaac was heartily opposed to the Mahomedan religion, 
and that in any case if he really did belong to that faith he 
would never touch pork ; and taking a piece of pork out of 
his sleeve he offered it to Isaac, and both of them began to 
eat it, to the intense disgust of the Mahomedans and to the 
amusement of the other spectators. Indeed when the 
Saracens saw this they gave up the case as hopeless, and 
went out of court, spitting at Isaac as they went, and saying 
that he had been deluded by that Chinese impostor. For it 
was true that on the whole journey neither Isaac nor Benedict 
had ever eaten pork, in order not to give offence to the 
Mahomedans ; or if they ever did so, at least it was in 



590 JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES 

private. These circumstances moved the judge to decide in 
Ferdinand's favour^ and to order all that Benedict had left 
to be restored to him. Nothing was founds however, except 
the pieces of jade which had been buried. From the pro- 
ceeds of these debts were paid, and means furnished for the 
journey to Peking. But still there was not enough to cover 
the great expense of all those months of detention, so they 
had to borrow twenty pieces of gold on the security of some 
bits of jade which still remained^ At last they both got to 
the brethren at Peking, to whom the whole affair had caused 
a good deal of anxiety. They had now cause for both grief 
and joy j Benedict's loss was to be mourned, and the Armenian 
to be congratulated on his escape. Him they received as if 
he had been one of our own body, for Benedict had spoken in 
strong terms of the faithful help which he had rendered 
throughout the journey. 

Ferdinand brought to Peking a cross elegantly painted on 
gilt paper, the only one that Benedict had ventured to carry 
among those Mahomedans, and also the three rescripts of the 
three kings, viz., of Cascar, Quoten, and Cialis, all which are 
now preserved as memorials in our house at Peking. There 
also are preserved the letters patent of Father Jerome Xavier, 
with other letters of his which had arrived during the jour- 
ney, and letters likewise from Alexius Menezes, archbishop 
6f Groa, and from the said Jerome, to the members of the 
society at Peking, in which they expressed themselves as 
feeling satisfied that Cathay could not be a long way from 
Peking, and that probably the two kingdoms had a common 
frontier, 

Isaac the Armenian stopped a month at Peking, and during 
that time he communicated to Father Matthew from his own 
recollection, assisted by some papers of Benedict's, all that 
we have related in these three chapters. He was then 
despatched to Macao by the road which our people are in the 
habit of using, and was there most kindly received by the 



TO CATHAY. 591 

Society and its friends. Having then sailed on bis way back 
to India, the ship was taken by pirates in the Straits of 
SiNCAPURA, and the Armenian was plundered of all his trifling 
possessions and reduced to a wretched state of bondage. He 
was ransomed^ however, by the Portuguese of Malacca, and 
went on to (Western) India. Hearing there of his wife's 
death, he proceeded no further towards the Mogul's terri- 
tories, but settled at a certain town of the Bast Indies 
called CiAUL, where he still survives at the date when this 
is written.^ 

* Jarric's statement about Isaac is somewhat different. According to 
that writer he was taken by a Dutch ship on his way to Malacca. The 
captain was so struck by his history that he caused it all to be written 
down, and sent him to Malacca. Thence the fathers of the society sent 
him on to Cochin and Goa, where he fell in with Father Pinner (who had 
been stationed at Lahore when 6k>es started on his journey). The Pro- 
▼indal of India gave Isaac one hundred pafdaoi, and he went with 
Pinner to Cambay (p. 226). 

Chawul (Ciaul) is a port of the Konkan about thirty-five miles south of 
Bombay, which was an important place of trade in the sixteenth century. 



502 JOURNEY OP BENEDICT QOKS 



NOTE I. (Sbb paqb 540.)^ 

THE PASSES OF THE HINDU KUSH. 

Wood, in his Journey to the Oxne,' names only four snoh passes, lliree 
of these are reached from Kabul through the valley of Koh-Dam4n north 
of that city, and diverge from each other near Charekar ; yis., the Pass of 
Panjshib or Ehawak, the Pass of Pabwam, and the Pass of Qhobbani> ; 
but each of these in Uuct represents a group of several routes over the 
mountains. The fourth that he mentions is the Pass of Hajjitak,* lying 
much ftirther west, passing by Bamian, and usually, in modem times at 
least, approached from Kabul by the road running west from that city by 
Bustam Khail, south of the offshoots of the Indian Caucasus called the 
Pugman Bange and Kohistan of Kabul. 

If we turn to Sultan Baber we find the number of Passes raised to seven. 
Those which he names are three leading out of the Paigshir Valley, vis. 
(1) Khawak, (2) TuL, (3) Bazabak; then (4) the Pass of Pabwak; and 
three described as in Ghorband, viz. (6) Yakoi Tuli or the " New Boad," 
(6) KiPCHAK, and (7) Suibbtu.^ 

As Bitter understands this list it does not include the H^jjiyak at all. 
But we know that the Shibrtu route, which Baber says was the only one 
passable in winter, lies some twenty-five or thirty miles west of Bamian, 
and I have little doubt that the Kipchak of Baber is the H^jgiyak, which, 
leading by what was in old times the great and flourishing city of Bamian, 
must always have been a main line across the mountain barrier ; and it is 
scarcely conceivable that Baber should have omitted it in his list. That 
both Kipchak and Shibrtu are mentioned by the king among the passes 
reached from Ghorband, is, I suppose, to be accounted for by the fiust that 
a transverse route does pass along the whole length of the Ghorband 
Valley to the foot of the Hi^iyak Pass, whilst there is also a lateral com- 
munication from Bamian to Shibrtu. 

The account in the Ayin Akbari is remarkable, as it seems partly copied 
from Baber and partly modified. This also mentions sey^n passes, vis. 
(1) Hawak (read Khawak), (2) Tool (TiU;, (8) Bajaruck (Batarak), (4) not 
named, but probably Parwan ; (6) " by the Hill of Kipchak, and this also 
is somewhat easy to pass. The sixth (6) is by the HiU of Sheertoo (read 



1 See also the map facing page 529. 

' Journey to the eource of the River Oaus, 1841, p. 186. 

' Called also H%jikak and H^jigak. 

* Leyden and Srskin^s Baber, p. 133 seq. 



TO CATHAY. 593 

Bhibrtu), bnt in the snmmer when the waters are oat yon mnat go by 
the ronte of Bahmian and Talakan (Talihlhan), The seventh (7) is by the 
way of Abdereh. In winter travellers make use of this road^ it being the 
only one passable in the depth of that season." This last route is^ I pre- 
sume, to be looked for in the Eoh-i-Baba, still further west than Shibrtu, 
but I believe no existing map will help us to it. 

The most complete notice of the Passes from the Paojshir and Ghorband 
Valleys is to be found in a Beport by Mqjor B. Leech of the Bombay En- 
gineers, published at Calcutta by the Indian 6K)vemment.^ By help of 
this we make out the following list of the whole number, commencing 
with the most westerly : — 

PASSES FBOM PANJ8HIB. 

1. Pass of Akjuhan. This is a pass starting from Puryan near the 
head of the PaxQshir Valley and crossing into Badakhshan direct. It 
probably descends the Kokcha Valley by the lapis-lazuli mines. Paryan 
is perhaps the Ferjan of Sharifuddin (in P. de la Croix) which Timur 
passed in his expedition against the Kafirs. Leech's Reports mention 
traditions of Timur's doings in the Passes into Eafiristan that ascend 
from Paryan. 

2. SLhawak Pass, at the veiy head of the Panjshir Valley, crossing to 
the Valley of Ajiderab, which it descends to the town of that name. 

3. TuL. This is a loop line to the Ehawak Pass. It q^uits the latter 
about twenty miles short of the summit and r^oins it at Sirab about 
twelve or fourteen miles' beyond the summit in the descent to Anderab. 

4. Zabta ascends ttom Safed Chir on the Panjshir B. some six miles 
below Tul, and joins the last pass just before reaching Sirab. 

6. From XJicbaz (or Murz of Wood's survey), fifteen miles further down 
the Panjshir, and about thirty-one miles from the entranoe of the valley, 
three bad passes, called Shwa, Urza, and Yatimak, lead across the 
mountains joining the Bazarak Pass (No. 6) on the other side of the 
ridge. The two last of the three are seldom free from snow. 

6. Baza&ak. This quits the Panjshir at the village of that name, 
twenty-eight and half nules ttom the mouth of the valley, and descends 
upon Khinjan on the Anderab Biver. 

7. Shatfal. This starts from Qulbahar at the entrance to Panjshir 
Valley, and joins the Bazarak Bead on the other side at Eishnabad or 
Kiahtabad, twenty-one miles from Khinjan. 



^ I have only MS. extracts of this report, for which I am indebted to 
Dr. F. Hall, of the India Office Library. 

* These distances in the Paigshir Passes I take from Wood's survey as 
embodied in a map by Mr. J. Walker. The distances here as given in 
Leech's report are inconsistent, and in fact impossibly small. In the 
Ghorband Passes I have to take Leech's distances. 

38 



594 JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES 



PABWAN PAB8K8. 

8. Pass of Paswak, from the town of that name, once a place of conse- 
quence (see p. 558)> deecenda upon Bajga belonging to Anderab, appa- 
rently to the west of Khii^an. Baber says this pass is a very difficult 
one, and that between Parwan and the great col there are seven minor 
passes called the Haft Bacha (Seven yoang ones). 

9. Pass of Salulanq (Sir-i-lung of Wood). This starts from Tutan 
Dara, six miles north-west of Charekar, and descends, like the last, 
somewhere not far from Khiigan. 

PAS8K8 FBOM GhOBBAND. 

10. EusHAN. This is the pass which leads close under the great peak 
specially known as Hindu Kush. It starts from a point in the Ghorband 
valley about ten miles from Tutan Dara. Kushan lies some miles up the 
pass. It descends upon Khinjan like the two last, which it probably 
receives before reaching that place. 

11. GwALiAN. This leaves the valley some twenty miles from Tutan 
Dara. It descends upon 6K)zan on the Anderab river. 

12. GwAZTAB. This pass leaves the valley near the ruins of the old 
town of Ghorband, some twenty-four and a half miles from Tutan Dara. 
It leads to Kilagai, a small town on the road from £[hinjan to Baghlan 
and Kunduz. 

13. Chab Dabta. This pass leaves the valley at about twenty-nine 
miles from Tutan Dara, and descends upon Ghobi, a considerable town. 
It is passable for Eafilas of every description. 

From this the road goes on along the valley of Ghorband, throwing off 
one or two minor passes, and eventually joins the H^jiyak road at the 
ruins of Zohak near Bamian. 

14. The Pass of Hajjiyak or Bamian. 

15. Shibbtu. 

16. Abdbbbh, for which my only authority is the Ayin Akbari as 
already quoted. These two last are beyond the limits to which the name 
Hindu Kush is applied. 

Of these Passes Hajjiyak was that crossed on his celebrated journey by 
Burnes, the first European traveller who saw and described the great rock 
idols of BaQiian ; it was also that crossed by Wood on his journey north- 
ward to the Oxus. It was probably by this pass that Chinghiz crossed, 
for the siege of Bamian was one of the events of his campaign in these 
regions ; and by it Hiwen Thsang travelled to India. 

The Pass of Chardarya was crossed by Aurungzib. The Pass of Salulang 
was attempted by Capt. Wood,^ but unsuccessfully, owing to the lateness 



* Wood himself calls it the Pass of Parwan, but it is evident from 
comparison with Leerh's report that it was the Pass called iu the latter 
Salidang. 



TO CATHAY. 595 

of the season. Timar on his expedition into India crossed the Hindn 
Kush by the Pass of Ttil, and retnmed by that of Shibrtn. The Khawak 
Pass was crossed by Wood and Lord on their return from the Oxns. By 
this pass or one of its branches Ibn Batata had crossed five hundred years 
before ;' and we have already seen reason to believe that one of the passes 
into the Pazg^l^ Valley was crossed by Friar Odoric on his return to 
Europe.' Hiwen Thsang also returned by Pangshir and Anderab on hia 
way to China. 

I have already observed that the mention by Qoes of Parwan as occur- 
ring just before the entrance of their Kafila to the mountains involves 
strong probability that he crossed by the pass taking its name from that 



1 See p. 403 a/nie, Ibn Batata afber passing Kunduz and Baohlan 
(see map) arrived at Andar (Anda&ab)j where he says a city formerly 
existed which had altogether disappeared. Starting for the Hindu Rush 
(the name which he uses) they met with hot spring^^ in which he washed, 
and lost the skin of his face in consequence. These were no doubt the hot 
springs of Sibab, near where the Passes of Tul and Khawak diverge in 
the Upper Valley of Anderab, and which are mentioned by Wood as 
having temperatures of 108° and 124*^ Fahr. (Journey, p. 413). The Moor 
next mentions halting in a place called Banjhir (Panjshib) where there 
had been formerly a fine city on a considerable river descending from the 
mountains of Badakshan. AH the country had been ruined by Chinghiz 
and had never recovered. He then arrived at the mountain of Pashai 
(supm, p. 403). The Pashais are mentioned repeatedly by Leech as one 
of the most numerous tribes in the Panjshir valley and adjoining passes. 
These, I gather, are now Mahomedans, but as the name is mentioned also 
by Elphinstone as that of one of the Kafir tribes, no doubt part of them 
in the mountains have retained their heathenism and independence. He 
then reaches Parwan and Charkh (Chabbkab, which Leech also calls 
Charka), It will be seen that these data leave nothing ambiguous in the 
traveller's route excepting the short alternative of the Khawak and Till 
routes over the actual ridge of the Hindu Kush (see Ibn Bat, in, 82-88). 

Edrisi speaks of the people of the towns of Banjhir and Hariana on the 
Baighir (Paigshir Biver) as employed in mining silver, and those of the 
latter as notorious "for the violence and wickedness of their character." 
The position of this town of Panjshir does not seem to be known now, 
(though Mahomedan coins exist struck at that place in the ninth century) 
but the valley has retained its character to this day. " This fair scene," 
says Wood, " is chiefiy peopled by robbers, whose lawless lives and never- 
ending feuds render it an unfit abode for honest men." Uariana is 
perhaps Pabtan, at which there are silver mines marked in Wood's sur- 
vey. Edrisi also speaks of Andarab as a town surrounded by gardens, 
orchards, and vineyards, where they stored the silver from Panjshir and 
Hariana (i, 476, seq.), 

' Supra, p. 167. 



596 JOURNEY OP BENEDICrr GOES TO CATHAY. 

town. One of the minor difficulties of the narrative, however, is the 
application of the name Aingharan to the district which he reached after 
crossing the mountains. Now I find from Wood's survey, as embodied in 
J. Walker's map, that the name Dara-i-Aingharan is applied to two of the 
valleys in the vicinity of Bamian. It is a possible explanation, therefore, 
that the Kafila might from Farwan have struck up the Ghorband valley 
and crossed the Hajjiyak Pass. This circuitous route would also be more 
consistent with the great length of time assigned to the journey, and 
with the identification of Khulum as the Calcia of our traveller. None 
of these grounds, however, are stable enough to build upon with much 
confidence.^ 



^ I have had greatly to regret in the preparation of this note the want 
of access to the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, which contains 
a variety of valuable papers bearing on the subject. 



THE END. 



APPENDIX I. 



LATIN TEXT OP ODORIC, FROM A MS. IN THE 

BIBLIOTHEQUE IMPBRIALE. 



DESCRIPTIO ORIENTALIUM PARTIUM FRATRIS ODORICI 
BOEMI DE FORO JULII PROVINCI-ffi SANCTI ANTONIL 

1. Le Trapesondd et Armenid Majori} 

Licit alia multa et yaria de ritibus et conditionibus hujus mundi 
a multiB enarrentur, tamen est sciendum quod ego frater Odoricus de 
Foro Julio,' Yolens transfretare et ad partes infidelium Tolens ire ut 
fructus aliquoB lucri facerem animarum/ multa magna et mirabilia 
audiyi^ atque yidi quas possum yeraciter enarrare.^ Nam primo* tran- 
aiens Mare Majus, me^ transtuli Trapesondam, quae Pontus antiquitus 
▼ocabatur. Ease terra yalde est bene situata; ipsa enim est scala" 

' These headings have been interpolated by the editor as before stated. 
(See Biogr. and Introd. Notices.) 

' Hah, de portn Vahonis ; AfiM. de portu Nabomonis. 

> Bol, Et hoe de lioenii& prselatorura meorum qui hoc concedere possnnt 
secundum reguls nostrs instituta. 

< BoU a fide dignis. 

^ Far, then htu : FrfBsens itaqne opnscnlum in oapitula dividens de multis 
gestis que vidi et audivi in oriente septentrione et meridie, intendo aliqua 
sub brevi compendio enarrare, neo intendo de singulis reddere rationem, 
niulta nihilominus primitus mittens qnsB apud mnltos ineredibilia viderentur. 
Neqae enim ego ilia crederem nisi propriis auribus andivissem ant hsec talia 
respexissem. Quatuordecim annis cum dimidio in habitn almi confessoris 
Christi Franoisci in hnjusmodi partibus sum moratus. Ad petitionem reve- 
reudi fratris Guidoti tunc priesens provinoialis ministri provincise sancti 
Antonii hoc breye opuscnlum in Pada& compilavi. Siqoid igitur studioso 
lectori in hoc opuscule visum fnerit divinse bonitati et non mes imperitiae im* 
pntetur. Siquid autem nimis incredibile vel a veritate devium fuerit visum 
diligentis lectoris oaritas, non mordax insuUus aut latrans dente oanino, corri- 
gat et emendet. 

* Far. Prime itaque de Venetiis cum galeis recedens. 
7 Hak, et Mu8» de Pera juzta Constantinopolim. 

* BoL schola(!) 

h 



U APPENDIX I. 

qusBdam, videlicet Penanim, Medomm et omnium eorum que sunt 
ultra mare. In hac enim terra yidi quoddam quod michi placuit valde.' 
Nam yidi hominem quemdam secum ducentem plures quam quatuor 
milia perdicum. lete homo per terram veniebat, perdices non' per 
aerem Tolabant ; has perdices ipse ducebat ad quoddam castrum quod 
▼ocatur Canega,' distans a Trapesonda tribus dietis. H»c perdices hujus 
erant conditionis et proprietatie. Nam cum ille homo vellet quieacere 
Tel dormire, omnes se aptabant circa eum, more pullorum gallinarum ; 
et sic isto mode eas ducebat Trapesondam, usque ad palatium impera- 
toris. QusB cum sic essent ante eum de eis tot accipiebat quot ipse Tolebat. 
Alias autem predictus homo ad locum de quo prius illas acceperat per- 
ducebat. In hac ciyitate positum est corpus Athanasii super ipsius 
portam ciyitatis.* Hinc recedens iyi in Armeniam Majorem, ad quamdam 
ciyitatem que vocatur Aritiron* ; hssc civitas multum erat bona et opu- 
lenta multo tempore jam transacto, et adhuc esset nisi fiiissent Tartari 
et Sarraceni, qui earn multum* destruzerunt. Nam ipsa multum 
inundat pane came et aliis yictualibus multis pneterquam' vino et 
fructibus. Ista ciyitas' multum est frifida. be ipsa enim dicunt 
gentes quod altior est terra, qusB hodie habitetur in mundo.* Hssc 
autem multum habet bonas aquas, cujus ratio est hssc ut yidetur. Nam 
yensB harum aquarum oriri yidentur et scaturire a flumine Eufrate quod 
per unam dietam distans ab ista civitate labitur inde. Hsdc antem 
ciyitas est yia media, eundi Thauris. Be hac recedens iyi ad quemdam 
montem qui yocatur Soyisacalo.*^ In hac contrata est mons iUe" in quo 
est archa Nose. In quem libenter ascendissem si mea societas me prsssto • 
lari yoluisset ; et quem quum ascendere yoluerim tamen ^ens illius con< 
tratss dicebat quod nuilus unquam poterat ascendere ilium montem. 
Nam hoc yidetur et dicitur Deo altissimo non placere. 

2. De dvitatihus Thauris et Soldonid, 

De ista contrata recedens me transtuH Thauris, civitatem magnam 
et regalem que Susis*' antiquitus dicebatur. In ista ut dicitur est Arbor 
Sicca, in una moscheta et" in una ecclesia Sarracenorum : hsec ciyitas 
nobilior est et melior pro mercimoniis quam alia aliqua ciyitas que 
hodie sit in mundo. Nam non reperitur hodie aliquid m mundo quod 
sit comestibile** yel quod sit alicujus mercimonii, cujus illic magna copia 

^ Ven. Ut quoddam yalde palchrum. 

' Miscopied probably for vero as in most others. Ven, htu hominem... 
perdices. . .seqnebantur. 

> Ven, Zanega; Ut. Zanga; Far, Tanegar; Hah, Zaoena; Bol. Tegana; 
12am. Zaiiga. The true reading douhtleet Zegana. 

* Ven. Is enim est qui fecit symbolom quod incipit Qniounque yalt sal- 
yufl esse ante omnia opus est ut teneat catholioam fidem, eto. 

* Ven. Arsiron ; Ut. Aoeron ; Far. Arzirai ; Hah. Azaron ; Mtu, Arciron ; 
Bol. Caricon ; 12am. Aoron. 

< Hah. pro magD& parte. Far. omite multum. 
7 Far. primitns instead o/prsBterquam. 

> Ven, regio. ' Sit altior ciyitas totius uniyersi. 
^^ Fm. Sobissacelo ; 17^ Sollisaoulo ; Far. Bobis (?Sobi8) Sacfaalo; Hak. as 

in Yen.; Mtu, ditto; Bol. Sarbi-Sarbolo; Ram. SoUisacnlo; if arc. Sobissacallo. 

11 Ram. il monte Oordico. 

^ Bol. Suors. Ram. Saci,. .qnal fa Rotto il dominio di Assnero Be. So Ven, 

^ Et in should be id e8t,a« in Ven.^ Mut, and Far. Hak. and Bol. omit about 
the Arbor seeco altogether. 

^* Bol. here ineertt nihil alioigus utilitatis, necessitatis, aut mereimonii. 



APPENDIX I. Ill 

non habeatnr. In tantiim autem est nobilis ciyitas ilia, quod est quasi 
incredibile de hiis qusB illic habentor, base enim multum bene est posita 
atque sita. Nam quasi totus mundus pro mercimoniis iUi coirespondet 
ciTicati.' De hac Tolunt dicere Ohiistiani quod ex ista civitate plura 
recipit imperator ille quam rex FrancisB habeat de toto suo regno. 
Penes banc civitatem est unus mons salinus magnam copium salis toti 
exbibens cintati. De boe sale unusquisque accipit tantum quantum 
Tult et petit et nicbil alicui soWendo. In bac civitate multi Gnristiani 
eujuslibet generationin' commorantur, quibus ipsi Sarraceni in omni* 
bus dominantur, multa autem alia sunt in ista ciyitate quie nimis longum 
foret aliis enarrare. Ab bac civitate Tbauf is recedens ivi per decem* 
dietas ad quamdam civitatem que vocatur Soldonia.^ In bac civitate 
tempore estivo moratur imperator Persarum. In jeme autem vadit ad 
quamdam contratam* que est super mare quod vocatur mare Bacbuc* 
H89C civitas magna terra est et frigida, in se babens bonas aquas, ad 
quam civitatem portantur multa et magna mercimonia, quss illic ven- 
duntur. 

3. De Civitate Magorum; De Mart Arenoeo^ ei Terrd ffuz. 

De bac civitate recedens cum caravanis et' cum quadam societate 
ivi versus Indiam Superiorem, ad quam dum sic irem per multas dietas 
applicui ad unam civitatem trium magorum que vocatur Oassan,^ civi- 
tatem regalem et magni bonoris ; verumptamen Tartari eam multum 
destruxerunt, bee civitas multum babundat pane et vino et multis aliis 
bonis. Ab bac civitate usque Iberusalem quo magi iverunt non virtute 
bumana sed virtute divina et miraculose cum sic cito iverint, sunt bene 
quinquaginta dietsB. Multa autem alia sunt in bac civitate quad non 
multum expedit enarrare.* Inde recedens ivi ad quamdam civitatem 
nomine Gest'^ a qua distat mare arenosum per unam dietam, quod mare 
est valde pericutosum et mirabile. In bac civitate Gcsst est copia 
maxima victualium et omnium aliorum bonorum quie jam dici possent : 
potissime autem ficuum illic copia maxima reperitur ; uvss autem siccas 
et virides ut berba, et multum minutao iUic reperiuntur uberius et abun- 
dantius quam in aliqua parte mundi. Hasc est tertia melior" civitas quam 
Persarum imperator possideat in toto suo regno. De bac dicunt Siarra- 
ceni quod in ea nullus Gbristianus ultra annum vivete umquam valet." 
Multa autem alia illic babentur. Ab bac recedens et transiens per 
multas civitates et terras ivi ad quamdam civitatem nomine Oonium/' 

> Hak, and Mu$, intUad of the last three words oonfluere potest. 
' Mus, has de omni natione. 

> Far. bas 14. 

* I7t., Hak. Soidania; J^ar. Solonia ; Bo2. Soldolina ; ifare, Soldonia. 
^ Boh alone has qnsB voeatar Azam. 

* Ven. Bacbao ; Ut, and Ram, Bacad ; Far, Abachue ; Hak. and Mus. 
Bakuo ; BoL Abacut, and applies the next sentence to the city on that sea ; 
bflBc magna est et calida ; Marc, Bacaob. 

7 Should be id est as in Yen., who has baravanis. Hak. cum qaadara 
societate oaravanomm ; Bol. qnadam sec. Tartarorum. 
" Ven. Cassam ; Far. C asim ; Hak., Mus. Cassan ; Bol Casan. 

* BoL qon soribere non curavi. Hak, multa mirabilia que pertranseo. 
^ Far. lese, perhaps lead ; Ven., Hak., Mus. and BoU Oest. 

^^ BoL de melioribns simply. 

" Far, omits ultra annum. 

^ Sic in Ven. ; in Hak. and Ut. Comum ; in Mus. Com am ; in Far. Come- 

b2 



17 APPENDIX I. 

qu» antiqaiiuB civitas magna fuit ; base maximum dampniim iniulit 
Kom» tempore jam transacto: ejus autem muri bene quinquaginta 
miliarum sunt capaces. In ea sunt palacia Integra adhuc inhabitabUia,i 
tamen multis Tictualibus ipsa babundat. Ex hac recedens et yeniens 
per multas terras et civitates perrexi ad terram Job* quas est cunctorum 
▼ictualium multum pulcher situs.* Penes banc terram sunt montes in 
quibus sunt pulcberrima pascua pro animalibus habundanter. Illic etiam 
melius manna et in majori copia reperitur, quam in terra aliqua qus 
bodie sit in mundo. In ipsa etiam babentur quatuor bon» perdices 
minores^ quam uno grosso Teneto. In ea sunt pulcberrimi senes, ubi 
homines nent et filimt, mulieres vero non. Hsbc terra correspondet a 
capite OaldesB Tersus tramontanam.* 

4. De Moribus Caldeomm ; de Indtd infra terram et Ormet, 

Exinde exiens Wi in Galdeam que est regnum magnum, ad quam dum 
sic irem ivi per juxta turrim Babel qusB per quatuor dietas forte distal 
ab ea.* In bac Oaldea est sua lingua propria;' in qua sunt pulchri 
bomines, mulieres yero turpes. Illi bomines compti yadunt et omati, 
ut bic nostrsB incedunt mulieres. Qui bomines super capita sua sunt 
portantes fasciola aurea et de perlis, mulieres autem sunt ferentes solum 
unam yilem interulam^ attingentem usque ad genua, babentemque 
manicas largas et longas quod usque ad terram ipssB attingunt : hsec 
autem mulieres ambulant discalciatss portantes sarabulas' usque ad 
terram. Hsbc tricas et diezas (?) non portant sed earum capilli undique 
disparguntur. Hie autem sicut bomines post ipsas yadunt mulieres, ita 
illic prius bomines mulieres incedunt.** Alia autem multa in bac eiyi- 
tate sunt que non multum expedit enarrare. Hinc ego recedens yeni in 
Indiam quss est infra terram quam ipsi Tartari multum destruxerunt. 
In ea sunt bomines ut plurimum" tantum datulos comedentes, quorum 
xlii librsB*' minori uno grosso illic babentur. Sic etiam de aliis multis. 
Ex bac India recedens et transiens per multas contratas ad mare 
occeanum ego yeni : prima autem terra quam inyeni yocatur Ormes, que 
est terra multum et bene murata, terra multorum ac magnorum merci- 
moniorum. In ea tantus et ita immensus calor est quod pilia" et testi- 

rnm; in Bol, Coprum. Marc. Conic; Ram, Gomo; Wadding** Annals, 
Earum. MandeTille has Comaa, 

1 This is also the sense in Far. Hah. hoi non habitata ; JtfiM. minime 
tamen inhabitata ; Ven, inhabitata tamen. 

> Ven, nomine Hus, sic in Far.^ Hak.j Mua, Bol. hoi Ur ; Mare, hat only 
citti la qnale ha nome Has. The introduction ofJoh't name i$ probabUf 
interpolated, 

s Hah. and Mut. omniam yictualiam plenissima est, et puloherrime sttuata. 
Bol has nearly the same. 

* Should be minoris or pro minori at in the other manuteriptt. 
^ Hah. correspondet ChaldesB yersus transmontana. 

* Hak. omits the distance. 

7 Ram. Nella ditta Caldea k il yero idioma Caldeo qual noi chiamamo 
lingua Caldea. 

s Hak. and Mut. oamisiara; Bol. tnnicellara. 

' Sic Ven. et Mut.; Ut, oerabulas ; Hak. Serablans; Bol. scrobuUas. 

ic Par. 2 has hsec etiam mnlieres yadunt post yiros siout apud nos yiri post 
mulieres. Et alia mnlta. 

^> Bol inttead of ut plnrimum hat pulchri. 

13 Mut. hat quatnor librae, et pro minori quarteria uno grosso. Ram, 40 libre. 

^ Ven. and Far, parilia /or virilia as in Hak. and Mut. 



APPENDIX I. V 

euli homini exeunt coram et descendant usque ad dimidium tibiarum. 
Ideo que gens illius contratso si viverevolunt sibi faciunt unam unctionem 
qua iUa ungunt. Nam aliter homines penitus morerentur, et dum sic 
sunt uncta in quibusdam sacculis ilia ponunt circumcirca se cingentes. 

5. Be Navigio ferrum nullum habente, in quo se tranttidU Fr, Odoricus 

Tanam Indias, 

In hac contrata homines utuntur navigio quod yocatur lasse siccum 
solem spago.' In unum istorum navigiorum ego ascendi in quo nullum 
fexTum potui in aliquo'reperire. In quod dum sic ascendissem in xxvili* 
dietis me transtuli usque ad Tanam^ in qua pro fide Ohristi gloriosum 
martirium passi fuerunt quatuor nostri fratres minores : hsec terra mul- 
turn bene est situata. In ea magna copia panis et vini et arborum 
reperitur. H»c terra antiquitus fuit yalde magna. Nam ipsa fuit terra 
regis Pori,^ qui cum rege Alexandre praelium maximum commisit:* 
hujus terrsd populus ydolatrat. Nam adorant ignem, serpen tem et arbores. 
Hanc terram regunt Sarraceni qui eam ceperunt Tiolenter, nunc sub- 
jaoentes Daldili/ In hac reperiuntur di versa genera bestiarum. In qua 
potissime sunt leones nigri in maxima quantitate. Sunt autem symiso 
et gattimaymones/ et noctu»* ita magnss sicut habentur hie columbsB. 
Hi etiam mures sunt ita magni sicut hie sunt canes scherpi.^^ Ideoque 
illic canes capiunt mures (quia) muriligss seu katti ad hoc nihil yalent." 
In hac contrata quilibet homo ante domum suam habet unum pedem 
faxiolorum"ita magnum sicut hie una esset columpna ; hie pes faxiolorum 
minime desiccatur dum mode sibi exhibeatur aqua, et multsd alisd novi- 
tates sunt illic quas multum pulchrum esset audire. In hac contrata 
qu8B Tana nuncupatur, ut jam dictum est, passi sunt gloriosum martirium 
quatuor fratres minores pro fide Christi quod per hunc modum habetur. 

6. Martyrium iv, FrcUrum in eiviUUe Tana, 

Dum predict! fratres essent in Ormes, passi*' fuerunt cum una navi 
ut irent JPolumbum '}^ in qua dum essenc portati fuerunt male sue Telle,** 

1 Should he sutum solo spago oi in Mui, Hak. hcu sutam sparto ; Ven. 
sntum solam spegio ; BoL has nayigio quod vocatur lassefutum, an ohviou$ 
mUreading. Marc, luu vase /or the name of the ehipping, 

' Should be aliqoa parte cu in Mui. BoL hat in quo nullum Fratram potui 
reperire, an absurd misreading. 

B Ram, tinti giomi. 

* This it Gavam in the transcript made for met probably a mitreading. 
Ven. hat Tanam, the others Tbanam or Thana, except BoU which has 
Chaoaam ; Marc, Tana. Ram. Thana. 

^ Bol, has Ponti vel Parti. 

' Mus, siout in vitIL ejusdem Alexandri plenias invenitur. 

7 Hak. has regis Daldilo : all have this name nearly the same, 

* The Italian Marc, hcu oocoveggie, screech owls, but bats are meant, 

* BoL eathi magni. 

^ Far. only has porci parvi ; Ven,hcuf<ATpi sive canes; Hak. sicatsuot bine 
Bcepi ; Mus, scoipi id est canes tales ; BoL sicut in terns nostris canes qui 
dicQDtur Depi. Ifare. also has soherpi. 

*i Far. omits quia .... valent. 

" Ven, plantam unam fasiolorum ; Hak. fasciculorum ; Mus, lasoioloram ; 
Far, omitA the sentence entirely, 

" For pacti as in Ven.^ etc. ^* Mus. Polnmbrum, 

1^ Hak, has yiolenter deportati sunt; Mus. vellent noUent. 



VI APPENDIX I. 

usque ad Tanam ubi sunt xt domus Chrlstianorum, scilicet Nestoii- 
norum, qui sunt scismatici et hereticL £t dum sic essent istic sibi 
invenerunt hospicium, et hospitati sunt in domo cujusdam illonim. 
Dum autem sic manerent illic, orta fuit qusodam lis inter yirum illius 
domus et ejus uzorem quam ille sero ipse fortiter verberavit. Dam 
yero sic esset verberata et qusesta fuit coram lo cadi^ uno episcopo in 
lingua sua. Quam mulierem ipse cadi interroffavit si probare posset quss 
dicebat. Tunc autem ipsa respondit dicens se bene probare posse. Nam 
quatuor Baban Franchi scilicet quatuor yiri religiosi in lingua nostra, 
illic erant in domo cum michi hoc fecit : hos interrogate, qui yobis dicent 
yeritatem. Ipsa autem muliere sic loquente, unus de Alexandria ibi 
prsdsens rogayit Cadi ut mitteret pro eis quos dicebat homines maxime 
scientiss et scripturas bene scire. Jdeoque dicebat bonum esse de fide 
disputare cum eis. Quod audiens sic ipse Cadi misit pro eis, qui dam 
sic ante eum adducti fuissent isti quatuor fratres, scilicet firater Thomas 
de Tolentino de Marchia Anchonitana, frater Jacobus de Padua, frater 
Demetrius* qui erat frater laycus sciens linguas, et frater Petrus de 
Senis domi ut res custodiret,* ad ipsum Cadi perrexerunt. Dum sic 
essent coram lo Oadi,* ipse cum ipsis disputare cospit de fide nostra. 
Cum autem Uli infideles sic dbputarent cum istis, dicebant Christum 
solum purum hominem et non Deum. Quod cum sic dixissent, ille 
frater Thomas Christum esse unum Deum et hominem probayit 
rationibus, et exemplis in tantum eos confudit Sarracenos quod penitus 
ipsi contrarium dicere non yolebant.* 

7. Idem. 

Tunc yidens ille Cadi se sic esse confusum ab eis, coram toto pojpulo 
clamare coopit yoce magna dicens : Et tu quid dicis de Machometo i Quid 
dicis de Machometo ? Nunc autem istam consuetudinem habent Sarra- 
ceni, qui si se yerbis defendere non possunt se ensibus tuentur et pugnis. 
Dum autem eum interrogasset sic Cadi,* responderunt fratres dicentes, 
si tibi probayimus rationibus et exemplis Christum yerum Deum et 
hominem esse qui* legem dedit in terra, et Machometus exinde yenit qui 
legem contrariam isti fuit ; si sapiens es, quid sit de Deo' tu optime scire 
notes. Tunc ille cadi et alii Sarraceni alta yoce dicentes clamabant : 
Tu quid in tantum' dicis de Machometo ? Tunc frater Thomas respondit : 
Yos tantum dicere poteritis de eo quid dico, quod tacere hoc nimium 
yerecundabor unum ex quo me yultis respondere yobis.^ Respondeo 
yobis et dico quod Machometus filius perditionis est, et est cum djabulo 
patre ejus positus in inferno ; non solum ipse sed et omnes qui hanq 
legem tenent et obseryant. Cum ipsa sit pestifera nequam et falsa 

^ Ut. alio has Locadi ; the othert Cadi or Kadi, id est episcopo, Ven. mane 
conquesta est cadi, &o, 
9 BolL Zorzanus. 

> This should he as is noted in the margin^ dimisso fratre Petro domi, etc. 
It is thus in Far., Hah. and Mus. Ven. has ut rex custodiret, a slip. 

* Better with these last words omitted from ad ipsum as in Ven, 

^ Hak. omits from nunc autem. 

^ Should be de eo, as in the other MSS. 

7 Ven. and the others have iterum. 

> Mtts. has Tu insdns quid dico de eo videre potes? tamen ex quo yultis 
quod plane yobis respondeo, dico, etc. Hak. Yos omnes yidere potestis qaod 
dico de eo, etc. The others have nearly the same as above. 



APPENDIX I. VU 

totaque contra domini^ et ftnimarum salutem. Hoc ftudientes Sarraceni 
omnes alta voce unanimiter clamare coeperunt ;' Malum dixerunt de 
prophets ! et tanc ceperunt fratrea et eos in sole vinxerunt ut yirtute 
caloris intensi duram' paterentur mortem. Cum illic tantus sit calor ut 
si quia per spatium unius mi&ssD perseveraret in sole, ipse penitus 
moreretur. £t turn illic in sole fuerunt laudantes et glorificantes Deum, 
a tertia usque ad nonam semper, ylares et sani. Sic hoc Tidentes 
Hanraceni inter se consilium habuerunt et ad fratres venerunt dicentes : 
Yolumus accendere magnum et copiosum ignem in quem tos projiciemus ; 
et si ut dicitis^ ita sit yera, ignis yos non comburet ; si autem falsa sit 
et mala, penitus yos comburemini ab igne.* Tunc fratres responderunt 
eis dicentes : Parati sumus intrare ignem et carcerem, et quidquid nos, 
cadi, poteris facere pro fide nostra, semper iuYenies nos paratos, yerum 
tamen unum facere debes,* quod si ignis nos comburet, non hoc credas 
ex fide nostra procedere, sed solum ex peccatis nostris, cum propter 
peccata nostra nos bene comburi permitteret ipse Deus, hoc semper 
salYO, quod fides nostra ita perfecta est et bona sicut in mundo umquam 
esse posset. Nam ab hac non est in mundo alia fides, nee esse potest quae 
salYum faciat aliquem nisi ista. 

8. Idem. 

Dum autem sic ordinatum esset quod isti fratres conburi deberent 
▼ox OYolayit et fama corruit per tocam illam terram.' Itaque tunc 
omnes de dicta terra tam paryi' quam magni tam homines quam 
mulieres ad hoc finaliter intuendum penitus occurrerunt. Ipsi autem 
fratres ducti fuerunt super medanum," scilicet super plateam civitatis, 
ubi accensus erat ignis valde copiosus. Qui dum sic accensus esset, 
frater Thomas ibat ad projiciendum se in ignem. £t dum yellet se in 
ignem se projicer6 quidam Sarracenus eum per capucium cepit dicens : 
Non Yadas tu illuc cum sis senex. Nam super te aliquod experimentum*^ 
habere possis, propter quod ignis te comburere non posset. Sed alium ire 
permittas. Tunc statim quatuor Sarraceni fratrem Jacobum de Padua 
▼iolenter ceperunt, eum in ignem projicere satagentes, quibus ipse dixit : 
He permit tatis quia libens in nunc ignem projiciam memet ipsum.*> 
Ipsi autem ad sua Yerba non attendentes statim in ignem" projecerunt. 
I>um autem sic eum in ignem projecissent, et ipse sic in igne permaneret, 
ignis tam altus et tam magnus ipse erat quod nuUus eum unquam 
poterat intueri ; ejus tamen Yocem audiebant iuYOcantis semper uomen 
Virginis gloriosss. Tunc igne totaliter consumpto ipse frater Jacobus 
stabat super prunas Isdtus et gaudens, cum manibus in modum crucis in 

^ Dominum. Ven, Deam. 

' Ken. Moriatnr! Moriatarl quod malum, etc. 

3 Yen. diram ; Ifiu. durissimam. 

* Ven, ut ducitis. 

^ Hak. si autem tos combnsoerit patebit qnod fides vestra nulla nit ; and 
JfiM. nearly the same. The othen nearly as here, 
^ Ven* sciatis. 
"^ Ven, Vox et fama per totam ciYitatem intonuit. Far, Vox evolavit et fama 

iOAODtdt. 

* Ven, pueri. 

* Hak. omttf medanum. 

10 Hak, carmen aliquid yel experimentum. 

" Mu$, pro fide me& libenter ignem intrabo. So in Hak, also. 

13 Mtu. torpiter. Hak. violeoter. 



Vlll APPENDIX I. 

coelum levatisy mente Integra et puro corde dominum semper laudando. 
Et quftmquftm ignis fuleit ita magnus et copiosus, nichil tamen de eo^ 
Iflssum yel combustum breyiterfuit inventum. Hoc yidens populus coepit 
unani miter exclamare, dicens : Isti sunt sancti, isti sunt sancti ! Nephas 
est offendere eos. Nam merito yidemus quod fides sua sancta est et 
bona! Hoc dicto frater ille Jacobus yocatus fuit de igne, et sic sanus 
exiyit et illsosus. Tunc hoc yidens, lo cadi* yoce magna cospit clamare 
dicens : Sanctus non est, sanctus non est ! sed ideo non comburitur quod 
tunica quam habet in dorso est tela terrse Abrahss. Ideo nudus expo- 
lietur et in ignem sic mittatur. Ut autem finaliter hoc compleretur 
yenerunt pessimi Sarraceni et in duplo plus quam prius ignem accen- 
derunt. £t tunc fratrem Jacobum exuerunt, cujus corpus insuper 
abluerunt, et ipsum optime oleo perunxerunt, et ut ignis major easet et 
fortius ageret et arderet, et ad hoc ut ipse frater citius comburi posset, 
oleum in struem lignorum in copiam maximam dejecerunt, et ipsum 
fratrem Jacobum in iffnem cum impetu impulerunt. Frater autem Thomas 
et frater Demetrius de foris stabant genibus flexis in orationibus magnis 
et deyotionibus persistentes, et sic frater Jacobus ignem iterum exiyit 
illsBSUS sicut et prius fecit. 

9. Idem. 

Hoc yidens populus unanimiter clamabat dicens ; Peccatum est, pec- 
catum est offendere eos quoniam sancti suixt ! £t sic in populo rumor 
maximus habebatur. Hoc secundum miraculum yidens Lomelic, scilicet 
Potestas, ad se fratrem Jacobum yocayit et eum se suis fecit indui yesti- 
mentis. Et dixit: Yadete fratres, ite cum gratia Dei, quia nullum 
malum patiemini yos a nobis. Nam bene yidemus yos esse bonos et 
sanctos, et fidem yestram esse yeram et sanctam et bonam finaliter nos 
yidemus. 8ed ut yobis securius consulamus yos banc lerram exite quam 
citius potestis, quia ipse Cadi pro posse nititur et laborat yobis auferre 
yitam. Dum hoc sic diceret, completorium quasi erat, et tunc totus popu- 
lus jdolatne omnesque alii, stupefacti et exterriti, dicentes permanebant : 
iTot et tanta magna mirabilia yidimus nos ab istis, quod nescimus quid 
nos tenere debeamus et obseryarel Dum sic dixissent tunc Lomelic' 
accipi fecit illos tres fratres quos ipse portari fecit ultra quoddam brachium 
maris per aliquantulum spacium ab ilia terra, ubi burgum unum erat, 
ad quod ille in cujus jam dome fuerant hospitati illos sociayit,* et sic in 
dome unius ydolatrae sibi hospicium inyenerunt. Dum sic autem illic 
manerent perrexit cadi ad Lomelic dicens ei ; Quid facimus ? lex Mac- 
hometi destructa est, nec^ aliud fiat, nam isti Raban Franchi (scilicet yiri 
religiosi), nunc ibunt predicando per totam contratam istam, et cum tot 
et tanta fecerunt ipsi in hac contrata, quie totus populus jam yidit, 
omnes conyertentur ad eos, et sic lex Machometi aliquid ulterius non 
yalebit. Verumptamen ut ipsa totaliter non sit destructa, tu unum scire 
debes, quod Machometus precepit in Alchoran (scilicet in lege sua) quod 
si aliquis unum interficeret Ohristianum tantum meritum ipse haberet 
ut si iret ad Mecham. (Unum scire yos debetis quod Alchoran lex 
Sarracenorum est sicut Christianorum est lex eyangelium. Mecha est 

^ Hak. nee pannus neo capillns lassus per ignem inyentus. 

* The others have not the lo. 
3 Hail;. Melich. Mu$. Melik. 

< The immediately preceding vords are wantiog in Mtu, 

* Ven, nini ; Far. ni, one of which is required. 



APPENDIX I, IX 

locus ubi jacet Mftchometus, ad quam Mecham vel locum sic vadunt 
Sanraceni sicut Christiaiii pergunt ad Sepulchrum.)^ Turn Lomelic 
respondit Cadi dicens ; Yade et facias sicut tu vis. 

• 
10. Idem, 

Hoc dicto, statim ille Cadi accepit quatuor homines armatos ut 
irent ad intoficiendum istos fratres, qui dum sic transissent quamdam 
aquam facta est nox. Et sic illo sero illos non potuerunt invenire. 
SULtimque Lomelic capi fecit omnes illos Christianos qui erant in terra, 
et eos carceri mancipavit. Cum autem perventum esset ad dimidium 
noctis, tunc fratres ut dicerent matutinum surrexerunt, et tunc homines 
illi qui missi fuerant ad eos illos invenerunt, et illos extra terram sub 
arbore quadam adduxerunt. Dum autem sic illi adduxissent ipsos 
els dicebant, Yos scire debetis quod mandatum habemus ab ipso Cadi et 
Lomelic, ut yos interficere debeiamus, quod tamen adinplemus nos invite, 
cum sitis vita bona homines et sancti. Sed tamen nod alitor facere non 
Talemus. Nam si susq non obediremus jussioni, nos cum liberis nostris 
et uxoribus penitus moreremur. Hiis isti fratres responderunt sic 
dicentes : Yos qui hue venistis ut per mortem temporalem yitam fletemam 
▼aleamus adipisci, quod vobis est preceptum facite. Nam pro fide nostra 
et amore Domini nostri Jhesu Christi,* quso nobis adhibetis nos tor- 
menta parati sumus viriliter sustinere. Unde sic istis audacter re- 
spondentibus et constantius, Christianus ille qui eos associaverat, et 
illi quatuor homines mali, multum ad invicem altercabant.' Nam eis 
respondebat Christianus et dicebat : Si gladium aliquem ego haberem 
aut quod vultis non fieret aut me cum ipsis neci finaliter daretis. .Tunc 
illi fecerunt fratres expoliari. Statlmque f rater Thomas junctis manibus 
simul in modum crucis capitis abscisionem suscepit. Sed fratrem 
Jacobum unus percussit in capite et eum usque ad oculos scidit, 
statimque caput abscidit. Frater autem Demetrius uno gladio in 
mamilla fortissimo fuit percussus. Exinde sibi caput fuit abscisum. 
Dum autem sic ex martirio suo animas Deo dedissent, statim aer ita 
lucidus et ita clarus est effectus, quod cuncti fortissimo mirabantur ; 
similiter, et luna maximam ostendit claritatem et splendorem. Statim 
autem post hoc tot et tanta tonitrua et fulmina atque choruscationes 
evenerunt, quod pene omnes mori finaliter se credebant. Navis etiam ilia 
quae debebat eos portare Polumbum et portati fuerunt usque ad Canam^ 
contra Telle suum, taliter fuit submersa, quod de ea et omnibus qui 
erant in ilia nichil unquam breviter scitum fuit. 

11. Idem. 

Mane autem facto misit Cadi acceptum res illorum fratrum et tunc 
inventus fuit frater Petrus de Senis, trium aliorum fratrum socius. 
Quum eum sic reperissent ipsum ceperunt et eum duxerunt ad Cadi ; 
quem ipse Cadi et alii Sarraceni alloquentes sibi maxima promittebant, 
si fidem suam vellet abnegare et illam Machometi integraliter confiteri. 
Ipsi autem dum sic sibi loquerentur, ipse de eis tnifabatur et eos 

^ The whole of this is expressed in Mua, in quite different and more dif- 
fused language; bat, as the meaning is the same, the variations are not 
worth specifying. 

' Hah, et Mm. qui pro nobis crucifigi et mori digoatus est. 

* MuB, multam audacter et constanter cum illis quatuor armatis alter- 
catus est. 

* Fat Tanam. 



X APPENDIX I. 

mirabiliter deridebat. £o autem sic ipsos deridente, ipsum tormentare 
coDpenint a mane usque ad meridiem, diyersis generibus tormentorum. 
Quod quamquam sic ei infeiieiit semper tamen in fide immobilis 
permanebat et constanter, illorum falsam ostendendo et eam yiriliter 
destruendo. Cum autem yidentes Sarraceni a sua non Telle discedere 
Yoluntate, ilium super quemdam arborem suspenderunt| in quam a nona 
usque ad noctem ipse permansit. Cum autem ad noctem fuit per- 
▼entum, de arbore ipsum acceperunt sine aliqua Isssione de mundo. Hoc 
illi yidentes' ipsum per medium diyiserunt, et mane facto nicbil de eo 
breyiter fuit inyentum. Verumtamen uni personie fide dignn fuit 
reyelatum quod Deus occultayerat ejus corpus usque ad certum tempus, 
in quo tamen sibi placuerit ipse illud manifestabit. Ut autem Deus 
opem ostenderet quod eorum animes jam regna celestia obtinebant,' ilia 
die <^ua beatissimi fratres gloriosi martires sunt efiecti, ille Lomelic 
dormitioni se dedit ; qui dum sic in lecto dormiret ecce sibi apparuerunt 
isti martires gloriosi lucidi, ut sol ac splendidi, singulos enses in suis 
manibus retinentes, et super Lomelic tauter oos yibrantes ac si diyidere 
yoluerunt ipsum totum. Quod yidens ipse Lomelic yoce sic alta cepit 
clamare'. Quid ad ejus clamorem tota ipsius familia occurrit festi- 
nanter petens ab eo quid ipse haberet atque yellet. Ipsum autem dum 
sic interrogassent ipse respondit dicens : Illi Raban Franchi quos 
interfici feci hue ad me yenerunt suis ensibus, quos habebant, occidere 
me yolentes. Ideoque ipse Lomelic misit pro Cadi cui totum, quod sibi 
acciderat enarrayit, consulens ipsum quid de hoc esset finaliter 
peragendum, cum se crederet ab eis penitus interire. Tune Cadi sibi 
consuluit ut pro eis magnam eiemosinam exhiberet, si yellet eyadere de 
istorum manibus interfectorum. Tunc statim misit pro UUs Christianis 
quos ipse in carcere detinebat, qui cum yenissent ad eum, ipse indul- 
gentiam ab eis de eo quod sibi fieri fecerat humiliter postulayit, faciens 
se socium eorum et fratrem. Hoc autem facto tunc precepit ut si quis 
unquam offenderet aliquem Christianum ipse penitus moreretur ; et sic 
omnes illsesos abire permisit. Post hoc autem ipse Lomelic eis quatuor 
moschetas, scilicet iiii eclesias fecit edificari, in quarum qualibet quos- 
dam sacerdotes ISarracenos fecit morari. 

12. Idem, 

Audiens ipse imperator Doldali' istos fratres talem subiisse sententiam, 
misit et ordinayit ut ipse Lomelic penitus caperetur, et ipse ad eum 
yinctis manibus duceretur. Qui cum ante eum sic fuisset adductus, 
eum interrogabat quare mori fecerat tam crudeliter istos fratres. Cum 
autem interrogatus sic fuisset, respondit ei : Istos fratres sic mori permisi 
quia ipsi subyertere yolebant legem nostram, et malum etiam dixerunt 
de propheta. Tunc sibi dixit imperator : Tu, crudelissime canis, cum 
yidisti quod Deus bis liberayit eos ab igne, quo modo fuisti sic ausus ut 
eis talem mortem inferres. Hsbc cum dixisset, eum cum tota familia sua 
per medium scindi fecit. £t qtiia talem mortem istos fratres^ in suum 
meritum fecit sustinere, hoc ipse passus fuit tantum in detrimentum.* 

^ Hak, yidentes ilium Isetam vivum et illeBum. 

* Hak. ostenderet animas suorum martyram jam in coelis consistere et 
congaadere cum Deo et angelis et aliis sanoUs ejus. Mui, nearly the tame, 
Ven, omits. 

s Ven. Dodoli ; Far. Dodili ; ilftts. Dodili ; Hak, Dodsi ; Mare, dol Dali. 

* Mm. Peitro de Senis. Hak. fratri infl^xerat. 

' Far, Cadi autem hoc audiens de terra ilia atqae de imperatoris dominlo 
dam fugit. Hak. alto ending et sio evasit. Mut, et evasit. 



APPENDIX I. XI 

« 

In hftc autem contrata consuetudo quaodam obseryatur. Nam nunquam 
oorpoB aliquod sepelltur, sed ipsa corpora solum in campaneis dimit- 
kuntur, et ex nimio calore cito destruuntur et consumuntur. Yerum 
corpora hoium fratrum bene quatuordecim diebus Ulic fuerunt in sole, 
et ita recentia et Integra sunt inyenta sicut erant Ula die qua passi 
fuenint suum martirium gloriosum. Sic autem yidentes qui in ilia 
tdia aderant Ghristiani^ sua corpora acceperunt, qusB postea sepulturss 
tndiderunt.> 

13. Ft, Odorkus coUigit ossafrcUram ; miracula per ilia operata. 

Tunc ego frater Odoricus de suo scions martirio glorioso illuc iyi, — et 
sua corpora ego accepi qusQ jam fuerunt tradita sepultursB.* Quia per 
aanctoB sues Deus ipse multa et magna mirabilia operatur, per istos 
yoluit potifisime operari. Nam ego frater Odoricus cum ossa istorum 
fratrum sic accepissem et pulchris toaleis* alligassem, ipsa in Indiam 
Superiorem ad unum locum nostrorum fratrum cum uno socio et famulo 
deferebam.^ Dum autem ea sic portarem, ibi dome cujusdam habui 
hospitari,^ et ipsa ossa, imo potius reliquisd sancisD dici debent, supposui 
capici meo et me dedi dormitioni. Et dum sic dormirem ipsa domus a 
Sajrxacenis subito fuit accensa, ut me facerent mori.* Alta yoce populi 
iiniyersi [sic]. Nam hoc est imperatoris preceptum ut cujus domus ac- 
cenditur' ipse penitus moriatur. Ipsa domo sic accensa socius meus 
cum famulo eziyit domum, me in ea cum ossibus remanente, qui dum sic 
eeaem in domo jam ardente, ossa horum fratrum ego accepi et' in uno 
angulo ipsius me aptayi* Sic autem igne domum comburente, tres 
anguli ipsius domus fuerunt combusti, illo solo in qno eram remanente : 
me autem sic in illo angulo residente, ignis desuper me aderat non me 
laedens nee ipsius domus angulum comburens ; quamdiu autem in domo 
cum istis ossibus permanebam, ignis nunquam descendebat sed ad 
modum seris^^ ipse desuper residebat. Gum autem domum egressus fuis- 
sem, tunc ipsa totaliter fuit combusta, non solum ipsa sed et multso alin 
qu» illi contigusD yidebantur, et sic inde illsssus exiyi. 

14. Idem. 

Aliud quoque insuper eyenit quod michi accidit in eundo. Nam dum 
sic per mare cum istis ossibus ego irem ad unam ciyitatem quad yocatiu: 
Polumpum," ubi piper nascitur babundanter, nobis defecit totaliter 

> ffere Far. ahne hoi ** Passi autem fuerunt bi beati martyres pro fide 
Cbristi mariyrinm gloriosum anno ab incamatione Domini noath Jhesu 
Cbristi icm *' 

' BolL et apertis sepnlohris sascepi ossa eomm bumiliter et devote. 

* Toaleia, toweU. Ven. has manntergiis ; Mtu. tnallis. 

* Here BolL has oronipoteDs quoque Dens qui per prophetam mirabilia in 
Sanctis suis dioitur, etiam per istos sanctos sua voluit mirabilia demonstrare. 

' BolL et cum cum socio pergerem ad quiesoendum. 

* Jf itf . tanquam reus (reum ) illius ignis accensi. 

7 Mus. ut si quis reus incendii domus esset. These two last variations 
teem to be glosses. 

" BolL et inyocato Dei auxilio. 

* BolL Mira Dei olementia qui se pie claroantibus non elongat ! 

^ Ut. hcu ad modum crucis extensus, which newts an arbitrary emhemsh' 
nsent of the copyist. 

>* Should be Polurobam, as in Fea., Far.^ Mus ; Hak, hcu Polumbmm ; 
3Jare. Pol umbo et Polombo. 



XU APPENDIX I. 

ipae^ yentuB. Quapropter yenerunt ydolatns suos deos adorantea ut eis 
yen turn prosperum exhiberent, quein illis tamen dare minime potuerunt. 
Deinde yenerunt Sanraceni, et ut etiam yentum haberent multum 
laborayerunt, et turn ilium suis supplicacionibus uunquam habere 
potuerunt. Delude michi et socio meo preceptum fuit ut orationes ad 
jbeum nostrum fuhdere deberemus ;* quatenus nobis final! ter exhiberet. 
Qui si haberi posset nobis honorem maximum exhiberent, et ut alii hoc 
intelligere non possent, ille rector nayis Armorice' [nc] fuit locutus 
dicens : 81 yentus haberi non posset haec ossa nos projiciemus in mare. 
Tunc ego hsoc et socius audientes orationes, fecimus ipsi Deo; qui yidentes 
yentum haberi non posse, ad honorem Virginis gloriosas multas missas 
promisimus celebrare si yentum possemus nos in aliquo tunc habere. 
Cum autem yentum nos habere minime poteramus,* tunc accipiens ex 
ossibus istis unum^ipsum dedi famulo nostro ut lens ad caput* nayis ipsum 
in mare projiceret festinanter. Tunc ipso esse in mari sic projecto, statim 
yentus ita nobis effectus est prosper, quod nunquam nobis defecit donee 
accessimufl nos ad portum, ad quem meritis istorum fratrum deyenimus 
cum salute. 

15. Idem. 

Cum autem illic in Polumbo fuimus nos ad portum, aliamnayim nomine 
Lonclum' nos ascendimus ut jam dictum est. In Indiam Superiorem 
nos yenimus ad quamdam ciyitatem Zaiton,' in qua sunt duo loca 
nostrorum fratrum, ut ibi istas reliquias sanctas poneremus. Nunc 
autem in ista nayi erant bene septingenti,'* inter alios homines et 
mercatores.' Nunc ydolatne isti hanc consuetudinem in se habent. 
Nam antequam ipsi applicent ad portum, per totam inquirunt nayim ut 
yideant quid esset in ea, maxime si sibi essent ossa mortuorum, quae si 
reperirent,^^ ilia in mare projicerent ipsi statim, et habeutibus ilia mortis 
periculum maximum immineret.^^ Cum autem sic requirerent, sed^' 
in magna fuerint quantitate, nunquam tum ilia inyenire in aliquo 
potuerunt." Sic autem dante Deo ilia ad locum nostrorum fratrum 
tulimus diligenter, ubi cum honore et reyerentia maxima fuerunt posita 

^ Boll. necesRarius nobis. 

^ Boll, PoBthaec mihi et socio naeo mandarunt cancti qui erant in navi 
dioentes: Yos surgentes adorate Dorainum Deum vestrum ; si vestris ora- 
tionibas salutem conseqoamur honorem vobis maxime impendemus; sin 
autem, yds cum ossibas istis in pelago submergemus. 

' For Armenice as in Ven, and all the others. 

4 BoU. ego claniavi ad Dominam Jesam Christam ut per merita istorum 
Fratrum dignaretur nostrani desiderium exaudire. 

' Fat hoB apodium navis. 

' Ven, Zanoum; Ut, Zocnm; Far, Cocnm; Mui, Conchum; Hah, has 
omitted the term ; as also Boll,, Marc, Zoohi. 

7 Ven, Gaytam; Vt, Zaytum; Far, Oaiiam; Mu$, Cayohan; Hah, Carchan; 
BoVL Saudon ; Bam, Zailo. 

^ Mui, absurdly has in ilia autem navicnla erant bene lxx Christiani. 

* Ven. inter nautas et meroatores. 

^ Ven. quod si mortuorum ossa reperta essent, statim, ete. 

u Ven, has dioeDte8jiabeDtibus...immin(>re. Hak, Et per hoc bonum por- 
tum attingere et mortis periculi eyadere orederent. 

^ Ven, has licet. 

^ Mus. embeUisheSt]\cei.,.\\\A frequenter tangerent, semper tamen eorura 
ocnli sic miraoulose delusi fuerunt, quod ilia minime perpenderunt ; Hak. 
has nearly the same ; Boll, Domino Deo qui absconderat ftniTpf^<^ eorum in 
absoondito faciei suse, ossa eorum ab infidelibus ocoultante. 



APPENDIX I. XUl 

eondeceiiter.i Et sic multa alia operatur omnipotens Deus per istos 
ftanctos fratres, cum adhuc hoc habeatur apud ydolatras et Sarracenos. 
Nam cum ipsi morbo aliquo detinentur, Tadunt et accipiunt de terra 
ilia in qua fderunt imperfect!,' illam abluentea. Qusb cum sit ipsa lota, 
earn bibunt, statimque ab infirm itatibus suis totaliter liberantur.* 

16. Quomodo habeatur Piper ; De regno Minihar. 

Ut autem sciamus quomodo habeatur piper, sciendum est quod in 
imperio* quodam ad quod applicui nomine Mimbar* nascitur ipsum 
piper ; et non in ali^ua parte mundi nascitur nisi ibi.* Nemus enim in 
quo nascitur ipsum piper continet bene in se xyiii dietas. £t in ipso 
nemore sunt dues ciyitates, una nomine Flandrina,^ altera vero Zinglin.^ 
In ista Flandrina habitancium aliqui sunt Judsei, aliqui vero Christiani. 
Inter has duas civitates' bellum intestinum semper habetur, ita tamen 
quod Christiani semper superant et vincunt Judsoos. In hac contrata 
habetur piper per nunc modum. Nam primo nascitur in foliis quasi 
helersse,*^ quas folia juzta magnas arbores plantantur sicut hie nostras 

Sonuntur vites ; h»c folia producunt fructum ut uvarum racemi pro- 
ucuntur. In tanta autem producunt quantitate quod quasi yidentur 
frangi. Cum autem ipsum erit maturum yiridis est colons. Et sic 
Yindemiatur ut hie vindemiantur uvie, ponendo" illud in solem ut de- 
siccetur, quod cum desiccatum est ipsum in vasis collocatur.^* In hoc 
etiam nemore sunt flumina in quibus sunt multes malss cocoldrigse" 
^scilicet multi mali serpen tes).*^ A capite nemoris istius versus meri- 
diem civitas qusedam habetur nomine Polumbum" in qua nascitur melius 
Einziber quod nascatur in mundo. Tot et tanta sunt mercimonia in ista 
civitate quod multis incredible videtur. 

17. De moribus h\dorwn de Polumbo. 

Omnes in hac contrata adorant bovem pro deo suo, ipsum dicentes 
esse quasi sanctum, quem sex annis faciunt laborare et in septimo positus 
est in communi.1* Hunc autem ritum in se continent et observant, qui 
est abhominabile.'^ Nam quolibet mane accipiunt. duo bacilia de auro 

I Hak. Ubi in pace reqniescunt 
' For interfeoti. 

* Boll. pnMtaote Domino nostro Jesn Cbristo. 

^ Far. has absurdly in pipere. 

^ Ven. Millibar; Hak, Do ; Far. Minibaram ; Jftit. Mimbar; Boll, Ezami- 
nibar ; Ram, Maabar. 

< Ven. Nosqaam alibi ; Bak, in nulla parte mundi tantom quantum ibi ; 
Far, noD...ni8i ibi. 

^ Ram, Alandrina. 

" Hak, CTDcilim; Far, Flandriam...Canglin; Mut, Ziogelyn; Mare, Gin- 
gilin ; Ram. Ziniglin. 

' Better Hak. inter qnos. >® Ven, ederte ; Far, oleri. 

II Mu$. ei grana ponnntur ad. ^ Et sic piper nascitur et castoditnr. 
13 Ven, flumina habentia...oochodrillo8; Hak. and Far. crooodili; Mus. oooo- 

drillL 

^* Mus. Et sunt etiam in isto nemore multi alii serpentes quos homines per 
stupara et paleas oomburunt, et sic ad colligendum piper secure accedunt. 
Hak. lias the like. 

^ Hak. et Mus. Polumbrum, and the former says nothing of the ginger, 

^ Mus. ab omni opere ipsum faciunt quiescere in loco solempni et com muni 
ipfftim pooentes et dicentes huno ipsum animal esse sanctum. So Hak, 

'7 Ven. simply talem autem oonsuetndinem et modum observant. 



XIV APPENDIX I. 

Tel argentOy quae, quum dimittunt boTem ipsum de stabalo, ponnnt sub 
illo. In uno qaoram accipiunt urinam in aJtero Tero immundiciam 
aliam.' De orina lavant facies suas, de altero Tero immnnditia ponunt 
primo in medio Tisus in uno loco ; deinde super ambabui summitatibofl 
genarum, et postea in medio pectore ; ita quod in quatuor locis ipsi 
ponunt ; qusB cum nc fecerunt dicunt se fore sanctificatofl.* Et sicut facit 
populus SIC et rex et regina. Hii similiter aliud Tdolum adorant quod 
est per dimidium homo et per dimidium bos : hoc ydolum per os respondet 
quod multotiens sanguinem xl' Tir^inum petit et requirit huic jdolo; ita 
homines et mulieres TOTent sues fiiios^ et suas [filias] ante ydolum istud, 
ut sibi eorum sanguis jmmolatur.* Undo muiti moriuntur isto mode. 
Sic autem multa alia facit populus iste* qusB scribere et audire ab- 
hominatio esset quasdam. In hac etiam insula multa alia habentur 
et nascuntur quss non expedit scribere multum. Aliam autem oon- 
suetudinem pessimam habent ydolatrss hujus regni. Nam quando 
homo aliquis moritur, ipsum comourunt mortuum, et si uxorem habet 
ipsam comburunt yiyam, cum dicant eam ire ad manendum' cum 
marito suo in alio mundo. Si autem mulier filios habet ex marito 
suo, cum eis manere potest* si Tult. Si autem mulier moriatur, lex 
aliqua non inponitur yiro, cum possit si Tult aliam accipere in uxorem. 
Alia autem consuetude illic habetur, nam mulieres yinum bibunt, 
homines yero non ; mulieres etiam faciunt sibi radi yisum et barbam, 
homines yero non;' et sic de multis aliis mirabilibus et bestialibus que 
illic fiunt qu8B etiam scribere non expedit multum. 

18. De regno Mohar vJbi est corpus B, Thortia Apostoliy et de 

condUionihus ydolclatrarum, 

Ab hoc regno sunt decem dietso usque ad unum aliud regnum, nomine 
Mobar,*^ quod est multum magnum regnum, habens sub se multas 
ciyitates et terras. In hoc autem regno positum est corpus beati Thomse 
apostoli, ecclesia cujus plena est ydolis multis. Penes etiam quam sunt 
forte xy domus Nestorinorum et Ohrtstianorum qui nequissimi et pessimi 
sunt heretici." Similiter in regno isto est ydolum mirabile yalde quod 
omnes contratsB Indiso multum reyerentur. Nam ipsum est magnum 
quantus sanctus Christoforus communiter depingitur a pictoribus, et est 

1 Ven. steroas. 

' Halb. pro tota die ilia. ^ 

* Far. has iiii or virgines; Rak. aliqnotiens pro stipendio petit sangui- 
nem xl, etc. 

< Par, 2. Et filias dare siont hio alioui religioni, et sio per istum modum 
homines inter Aoinnt Alios snos et filias ; Ven. to the same effect; also Far., 
Hak.9 et Mut, siont Christiani aliqai alioui religion! vel sanoto in ccelo. So 
also Ram. 

* Ram. secondo ohe il profeta dioe. 

* Hak. bestialis. Immo, etc. 

' Hak. in aratura et oaltnra earn yiro suo in alio mundo. 

* Ven. neo ei ad yerecnndiam impntatur ; JfiM. sine yereonndia et imprpprio; 
Hak. improperio. Communiter tameo omnes prflaeliguntcombiiricnm marito. 

* Mas, faoiunt sibi radi oilia superdlia et barbam, et homines non, et sio 
est de aliis multis yilitatibus utrinsque sexns. In Hak. it i$ cilia et super- 
cilia et barbam a2fo...et sio de multis aliis yilibus contra natnram sexus eomm. 

^ Far. hat Bobamm ; Ram. Mebor. 

^^ Hak. et in cirouitu ecclesiaB simul Canonici yivnnt in 15 domfbus Nes- 
toriani, i.e., mali Christiani et Sohismatioi. From Mut. simul should he aicnt; 
also... Christiani pessimi cismatioi et nequissimi heretici. Far. has xvi domus. 



APPENDIX I. XV 

totum de auro,' positum super unun maguam cathedram, quae etiam est 
de aoro. Et habent ad collum unam cordam de lapidibus' preciosis. 
Qase autem corda precium multum et maximum valet.* Ejus ecclesia 
tota est de auro puro. . Nam tectum totum est de auro ; similiter et 
pavimentum.^ Ad hoc ydolum orandum occurrunt gentes de longinquo 
sic christiani de longe yadunt* ad Sanctum Petrum. Ipsorum autem ad 
ydolum Tenientium alii cum corda ad collum pergunt ;' alii cum 
manibus super unam tabulam ad collum ligatam ; alii cum cultello iu 
bmehio' fixo et non remoyent usque quo perrenerunt ad ydolum, ita 
quod totum brachium postea habent marcidum.^ Alii etiam sunt aliter 
facientes. Nam exeuntes domum suam faciunt tres passus ; in quarto 
autem faciunt unam* veniam ita longam super terram sicut unus 
illomm asset. Accipiunt insuper unum thuribulum cum incenso etiam 
igne adolentes desuper illant longitudinem Teniss*® ipsius. Sic enim 
iaciendo usque ad ydolum ipsi vadunt unde bene magno tempore ali- 
quando differunt ire ad ydolum ipsum cum sic ut dictum est semper 
faciendo vadunt. Cum autem sic vadunt, volentes aliquid facere signum 
unum" faciunt illic ubi faciunt hoc, ut sciant quantum processerunt. 
Hoc autem sic ipsi continuant donee ad ipsum ydolum deyenerunt.>' 

19. De aliis earuiietudinibut yddclatrarum, 

Apud autem ecclesiam ydoli hujus est unus lacus manu factus^' ad 
quern accedentes peregrini*M}rojiciunt in ipsum aurum vel argentum rel 
aliquos lapides preciosos. £t hoc faciunt ipsi in honorem ydoli hujus 
et ecclesie edificationem, unde multum aurum et argentum lapidesque 
preciosi habentur in is to lacu. Ideoque cum in ecclesia ejus aliquid 
facere fieri yolunt," inquirunt per lacum istum et inyeniunt omnia •hsBC 
que in ipso sunt projecta. Die autem^* illo quo hoc ydolum sanctum*^ 
fuit^ accedunt*" illi de contrata accipientes ipsum de ecclesia, et illud 

1 Hah, et Mu». purissimo et spleodidissimo. 

^ Hak, et 3ftM. Cbordolam sericam onm lapidibns. 

> Hak. cum lapidibns pretiosissimis quorum aliquis yalet plusquam unum 
regnum. 

* Hak. et Mu$, et superficies parietum interius et exterius. 

* Ven. peregre: Far. has yadunt Romam ; Mm. siout ad Stum. Jaoobum 
ant Stum. Petrum. 

* Alii cum manibus retro ligatis. 
7 Vel tibia. 

> Ven. has oorruptum ; Hak. et Mus. add lllnm reputant sanctum et bene 
cum deo suo. 

* VefL unam unciam veniam, which I do not understand ; lfii«. has unam 
yenam sive lineam, a mistaken gloss ; Mare, una invenia; Ram. una cava. 

'® Ut. has UDci» (?); Far, instead o/venie ipsius has nomine albius which 
seems nonsenu — perhaps misread by my copyist; Mus. linese sive yene ipsiun. 

i> Far. has signum unum abbie, pfo6a6Zy a misreading for ilHc. 

^ The whole of this pasiage about the venisB is omitted in Hak. though re- 
tained in Mus.f and this w, I think, the first material difference between 
these MSS. 

IS Hak. et manifestus. 

^* Mus. in honorem ydoli et ad edificationem templL 

>* Hak. quando aliquid debet ornari yel reparari. 

'* Ven. Annuatim autem die illo, etc. ^ 

17 Ven. factum ; Hak. et Mum. die autem annuo oonstructionis. 

" Mus. Bex et regina illius teme cum toto popolo et omnibus peregrinis 
aceedunt. 



XVI APPENDIX I. 

ponentes super uno pulchro* curra. Deinde rex et regina omnesque 
peregrini ad hoc cum populo toto, hii omnes similiter congregaii ipsum 
educunt de ecclesia cum cantibus magnis et omni genere musicorum. 
Hoc autem jdolum cum sit eductus de ecclesia ejus, multsB Yirgines 
bins et [binte] ipsum* antecedunt euntes canendo mirabiliter ante ipsum.' 
Deinde accedunt etiam peregrini qui evenerunt ad hoc festum, et ponunt 
se sub isto curru, facientes eum super se transire cum dicunt se Telle 
mori pro Deo suo. Et sic currus transiens super illos qui sunt sub eo, 
cunctos illos franffit per medium et scindit, unde statim moriuntur.^ 
Sic autem faciendo ydolum ipsum ducunt usque ad unum locum depu- 
tatum, ad quem ]ocum cum ipsum adduxerunt ilium ad locum pristinum 
reducunt cum cantibus magnis et instrumentis sicut prius. £t sic non 
est annus in mundo in quo plures quingentis hominibus non moriantur 
isto mode. Horum autem corpora ipsi accipiunt et comburunt/ dicentes 
ea esse sancta cum se mori promiserint pro deo suo.* Aliud quoque fit ab 
istb, nam venit aliquis dicens, Yolo me interficere pro deo meo, unde 
▼eniunt amici parentes et omnes hystriones de contrata ad faciendum 
ill! festum, qui voluit pro deo suo mori. Unde appendunt ad coUum 
ejus quinque cultellos acutissiraos et ipsum' ducunt ante ydolum, tunc 
ille accipit unum ex cultellis illb acutissimis, et alta Toce clamat dicens, 
Pro deo meo michi incido de came mea. Gum autem incident de came 
sua, de loco illo in quo voluit, eam projicit in faciemydoli dicens; Me mori 
permitted pro deo meo; et sic ibi tandem se interficit pro deo suo. 
Rtatimque ipso mortuo corpus ejus comburitur cum illud credatur ab 
illis esse sanctum quia pro deo suo se ipsum peremit. Sic autem multa 
alia magna et mirabilia fiunt ab istis qusB mmime sunt scribenda. Rex 
autem insulso yel proyinciss' hujus multum est dives, videlicet auri 
argenti lapidum preciosorum. In hac autem insula tot bonsd perlie in- 
veniuntur sicut in aliqua parte mundi, et sic de multis aliis quas in ista 
insula reperiuntur. Quib etiam nimis longum esset scribere. 

20. De Contrata Lamori quce non videt tramontanam, et de Sumatra. 

De hac contrata recedens et iens versus meridiem veni per mare 
oceanum quinquaginta dietis^^ ad unam contratam que vocatur Lamori,*^ 
in qua incepi amittere tramontanam cum terra michi acceperit eam. In 
ea autem ita inmensus est calor quod omnes illi [tarn] homines Qus^m muli- 
eresvadunt nudi,^^nullo se cooperientes. Hii de me multum truffabantur,'* 
qui dicebant Deum Adam fecisse nudum, et ego me malo suo velle 
vestire volebam.** Nam in ista contrata omnes mulieres sunt positss in 

^ Hah, pretiosissimo. 

' Ven. inttead of binaa et hoi bine et hinc ; Far. bine et blnsB ; also Hak, 
et Mtu, 

* Hak, prooessionaliter combinate modulantes ; Mu$, nearly the same. 

* Hak. et per hoc reputant se mori pro deo suo sanote et secure. 
' Hak. et oineres sicnt reliqaisB custodiuntnr. 

* This about the burning, ete.^ omitted in Mu$. 
7 Ven. cum magnis cantibus. 

^ Ven. dicens mori promitto. 

' Mtu. illius regionia. 

^° Far. has xv dietis. 

" Hak. Lam mori ; JlftM. hax vooatam Sustabor (?) sive Lamory. 

^ Far. hot only mulieres. . . .nude. 

^ Ven. et In vis ultra ejus velle vestiri. 

^* Hak. and Mu». qui videntes me vestitnm deridebant me, dicentes Deum 
Adam et Evam fecisse nudos ; BoU, Deus Adam nudum fecit, cur tu vestitns 
ambulas contra naturam ? Malo tuo veUe—MaAgrh lui. 



APPENDIX I. XVU 

commani. Itaque nemo est; qui dicere posset Teraciter hsec est uxor 
mea, hie est maritus meus. Cum autem mulier filium vel filiam parit, 
ipsum Tel ipsam dat uni illorum cui rult, cum quibus ipsa jam jacuit 
eumque yocat patrem suum. Tota terra posita est in communi, itaque 
null us cum veritate dicere potest hsec vel ilia pars terrse mea est. Domos 
tamen habent in special!. * Ista gens pestifera est et nequam ; ista gens 
comedit homines sicut nos boyes, nam camem humanam ita comedunt 
illic sicut hie cames manzinss' comeduntur, hsec tamen de se bona terra 
est. Nam magnam copiam camium bladi et risi [habent], magnaque copia 
habetur illic de auro,*de lignis aloe, [de] ganfara/ de multisque aliis quso 
ibt nascuntur.' Ad banc insulam accedunt mercatores de longinquo por- 
tantes secum homines* yendentesque illos^ infidelibus ipsis, quos cum 
emerent eos interficiunt" et comedunt, et sic de multis aliis et bonis et 
malis qu8D non scribuntur. In hac eadem insula versus meridiem 
habetur aliud regnum nomine Sumolchra' in quo est una generatio 
gentis singularis signantis se ferro calido parvo bene in duodecim locis 
in facie. £t hoc faciunt tam homines quam mulieres. Hii semper gerunt 
bellum cum hiis qui vadunt nudi. In hac contrata est magna copia 
rerum. Penes quam est unum aliud regnum nomine Rotemgo** versus 
meridiem. Multa quso non scribo nascuntur in illo regno. 

21. Be optima insula Jaud. 

Penes" hoc regnum est una magna insula nomine Jana," quso bene 
tribus millibus miliarium" circumdatur. Rex hujus Janss habet bene 
sub se septem reges coronse. Hsec insula multum bene habitatur. £t 
est melior insula que habeatur.*^ In ipsa enim nascuntur*' cubebse, 
melegetsB,*' nucesque muscatsQ, multseque alias species pretiosss. In e& 
est copia magna yictualium preterquam yini. Rex istius insulsa unum 
habet palatium yalde mirabile.'^ Nam ipsum est yalde magnum,^^ cujus 
scalsB multum sunt magnse altse latssque : horum graduum unus est 

1 Ven, Domos tamen proprias habent ; Hak. and Mus. speciales. 

* Far. Porcioffi. 

> BoU, amaraco instead of the preceding words, 

* Mus. Ganfar. 

* Hero Mus. inserts Tamen gens pestifera est, etc., omitted before. 

* Fen. infantes ; Hak, homines pioKues. 

7 Ven. more bestiarnm ; Hak. and Mus. siout nos yendimns porcos. 
' Ven. in macello ; Boll, has this much shorter. 

> Ven. and Ram, Sumoltra ; Far. Simultam or Simnltra ; Hak. Sumolcra ; 
Mus. Simoltra sive Sumolara; BolL Zumptloo (probably misread); Mare. 
Sumoltra. 

^ Fen. Bothonigo; Far.Betonigo; Ifuf. Boteingoet jnxtaillnd aliud reg- 
num de quo nihil scribo nee de hiis que ibi nascuntur ; BoU. Besengo; Ram. 
Botterigo; Hak. omits this kingdom of Rotemgo, etc., altogether; If are. 
botemgo. 

" Fen. Juxta. 

^ Ven. Java; Hak. and Boll. Jana; Far. and Mus, have Jana; If are. Java. 

^ Ven. Secunda melior insnlamm; Far. tertia melior; Hak. melior se- 
canda; Jfue. secunda melior. . . .ut dicitur; Bol, est de melioribus iDdias una. 

" Far. tribus milliariis ; Hak, cigus ambitus per mare bene trium mil- 
linra, etc. 

^ Ven. has also camphora; Far. ganfora; Hak. has garyophylli^ cubibe et 
Dacati rauscalA. 

1* Mus. et breviter omnes fere preciosse species ibi sunt. 

^7 BoU. qnod multis impossibile videretur. 

^ Hak. and Mus, et sltissime stat. 



XVlll APPENDIX I. 

aureus alter yero argenteus. PaTimentum aulem ejus unum laterera 
habet de auro, alterum vero de argento. Murus vero istius palatii totus 
est lamatuB interius lamis aureis,^ in quibus lamia sculpti sunt equites 
solum de auro habentes circa caput unum magnum oirculum aureum 
sicut hie habent nostri sancti ; bic autem cireulus totus est plenus lapi- 
dibus preciosis. Insuper tectum ejus totum est de auro puro ; ut autem 
breyiter et finaliter dos loquamur, hoc palatium ditius et pulchrius est 
quod hodie sit in mundo. Oanis' tameu grandis Gathaii multocieus 
fuit in bello in campo cum isto, quem iste semper yicit et superayit. 
Sic etiam multa alia sunt quse non scribo. 

22. De contratd Talamastn et arboribus eftufarinam daniibutf etc. 

Penes banc contratam est una alia oontrata quss yocatiur Patem* quam 
alii yocant Talamasim.^ Rex bujus contratse multas insulas habet sub 
se. In hac contrata inyeuiuntur arbores farinam producentes ; aliqusd 
etiam quso mel producunt^ aliouodque yenenum, quod est periculosius 
yenenum quod sit in mundo. Nam circa ipsum notn inyenitur aliquod 
remedium nisi unum. Nam si aliquis de illo yeneno sumpsisset accipiat 
de stercore bominis et ipsum distemperet aqua, quem et' bibat, propter 
quod ab illo yeneno totaliter liberabitur.' Arbores autem isto modo 
&rinam producunt. Nam ips83 sunt magnss, non tamen multum altro,^ 
etiam eas una securi incidunt circa pedem,* propter quod quidam liquor 
ab ipsis exhauritur ad modum collss'quem liquorem ipsi ponunt in saccis 
factis ex foliis, quos dimittunt per xy dies in sole et in fine xy dierum 
ex ipso liquore farina facta est, quam postea ponunt per duos in aqua 
maris ; deinde layant eam aqua dulci et sic faciunt pastam bonam" de 
mundo. Et tunc de ipsa faciunt quid yolunt, sou cibos seu panem mul- 
tum bonum, de quo ego irater Odoricus*' jam comedi ; base autem omnia 
propriis oculis ego yidi. Hujus modi autem panis exterius pulcher est, 
interius autem" niger est. In ripa^^ hujus contratse yersus meridiem est 
mare mortuum, aqua cujus semper currit yersus meridiem. £t si aliquis 
per juxta ipsius ripam yadit, et cadit in aquam, nunquam ille qui talis 
inyenitur. In hac etiam contrata sunt canayeriss*^ seu arundines longse 
bene pluribus Ix passibus, magnss ut arbores. Alias etiam canno) 

1 Hak. parietes. . . .laminati laminis aureis ; Boll, muri qaoqae ejus intriu> 
secuH laminis aureis sunt vestiti. 

^ Ven. Cbaam ; Hak. Caois de Katay. 

" Ven. and Hak. PaDten ; Far. Panthen ; Ut, Paten ; BoU. Paceo ; Mare. 
Paten : Ram. Paten. 

^ Ven. Malamasin; Far. Thamalfti ; Ut. M>ilama<«mi ; Hak. Tathala niasim ; 
BoU. Thalamasym; Mus. Thalamasin; Mare. Talamaxim ; Ram. Mala- 
uia^mi. 

' Ven. Snnt etiam produoentes mel, et aliqufe prodacentes yinnm, etu. 

' Hak. in bona quantitate. 

^ Hak. statim fugat venenum faoiens eiire per inferiores partea ; Mue. to 
same effect, adding et aio erit salVatus et a veneoo totaliter liberatus. 

* Far. hat a large hiatus from quem et bibat to this. 

^ Hak. magnsB et basfts: Mus, magna) et roultum alts. 

i(* Hak. sicut gumms ; Mus. sioat gumma oolle. 

»* Hak. el Mus. et odorifera (m). 

1' Boll, non solum pro necessitate sed etiam pro delectatione planes man- 
ducavi. 

^3 Ven., Far., Hak., Mas., BoU. aliquantulam niger. 

^* Far. riverift. 

^ Ven. Canne varias {no seu arundines). Far. has Canaverise. 



APPENDIX I. XIX 

reperiuntur que vocaotur Casan.* H»c per terram semper diriguntur ufe 
qassdam herba qu» apud nos appellatur gramegna. £t in quolibet 
node ipsaram radices producunt qu»' bene efficinntur longte uno miliari. 
In hiis autem cannis inreniuntur lapides de quibus aliquis super se hiis 
nanquam potest incidi a ferro aliquo nee offendi. £t ut plurimum 
homines istius contratsB de istis lapidibus sunt super se portantes. 
Ideoque propter virtutem horum lapidum veniunt homines et accipiunt 
puerulos sues quos in brachio per quod modicum ipsi incidunt, ubi 
nnum de istis li^idibus isti ponunt ne ipse ferro aliquo cadat. Et ut 
ilium parvum vulnus factum in brachio alicujus pueri cito solidetur, 
de quodam pulvere unius piscis ipsi' ponunt, propter quod Tulnus illud 
p«rTum statim solidatur. Et quia hujus lapidis magnsB sunt virtutes et 
de istis illi homines sunt portantes/ ex hoc in bello efficiuntur fortes^ et 
magni cursores^ in mari. V erum quia navigantes permare ab istis talibus 
offenduntur unum remedium invenerunt. Nam ipsi portant propugnacula 
seu palos acutissimos de uno fortissimo ligno, portant [que] sagittas cum^ 
fenro.^ Et quia homines illi male sunt armati, per mare navigantes eos 
Tulnerant et penetrant istis pilis acutissimis et sagittis. Sic isto modo* 
isti tales ab illis se Tiriliter defenduiit De cannis istis Gasan faciunt 
Tela siiis navibus, sestoria,** domunculas," multaque alia qusB sibi sunt 
utilitatis magn». Multa etiam alia sunt in contxata ista qua scribere 
et audire quasi stupor esset. Quapropter ea scribere ad presens non 
multum curo.^' 

23. Ik rtge CampOj habente muUos dephantes et muUosfilios/Uiasque. 

Ab isto regno per multas dietas est distans aliud regnum nomine Gam- 
pa,'' cujus contrata multum pulchra est. Nam in ipsa est copia magna 
omnium yictualium, et bonorum. Rex contratss illius ut dicebatur 
quando ibi fui inter filios et filias ducentos^* bene habebat ; cum multas 
habeat uxores aliasque mulieres quas ipse tenet.** Hie rex xiiii milia** 
elephantum domesticorum habet. Quos ita teneri facit et obserrari, 

^ Far. Gassam ; Mu$. Gassati, with the absurd addition ex quibus in apote- 
eariis inYeniuntor cassia fistnlie. Ram, has oasar. 

^ Ven. has et instead of qua, which it better. Fur. ramos produonnt qui 
bene, etc. Hak. et Mus. nearly to the tame effect — per unum miliare fere. 

' Bah, et Mut. cujus nomen ignore. 

^ Ven. omits this Buperfluous sentence. 

* Ven. feroces. Hak. et Mut. communiter triumphant in bellis et in mari, 
nee possnnt isti homines ledi per aliqua anna ferrea. 

* Ven. maximi pirati. 

7 Ven. absque, which is required. 

* Far. sine ferro. 

*' Hak. has Quod adversarii illius gentis soientes virtutem laindam provident 
sibi propugnacula ferrea contra spicula illorum, et anna venenata de Teneno, et 
in mann portant palos ligneos, eto....etBicconfuDduntaliqno8 et perforant in- 
ermes ex lapidum seeuritate. Mut. isto the tame effect and more diffutely 
expretted. 

'® Far. omits sestoria. 

'1 Ven. tali ergo ingenio. 

^ Mar. Case di stuoie. 

" Thit was probably written (^ampa ; Ven. Zampa ; Far. Ganpa or Garpa; 
Hak. Gampa; Mare. Gampa. 

" Hak. 300. 

^ BoL hat in thit place nee mirabar de hoc cum plures habuerit uxores. 

1' Hak. decies millesies et quaiuor ; Iftif . xiii millia. 

c2 



XX APPENDIX I. 

ab illis hominibuB de ytHib suis' qui sibi sunt subject! ricnt hie boYes. 
Aliaque xnulta animalia teneotur ad socedam. In ista eadem contrata 
unum mirabile quid reperitur. Nam unaqunque generatio piscium qui 
sunt in mari, ad banc contratam in tanta yenit quantitate quod dum sic 
yeniunt nichil aliud yidetur in mari nisi pisces.* Hii autem cum prope 
ripam sint se projiciunt super illam.* Cum sic autem sunt in ripa 
yeniunt homines et tot de ipsis habent et accipiunt et quod ipsi yolunt. 
Hii autem pisces duobus yel tribus diebus manent super ripam. Deinde 
yenit alia generatio piscis faciens hoc idem sicut prima. Sic etiam de 
aliis singulisque usque ad ultimam ordinate procedunt, quod tantum 
semel faciunt in anno. Cum de bto quseritur ab illis de ista contrata 
quare sic fiat, ipsi respondent et dicunt : Quod hoc f^iunt isti pisces 
qui isto modo yeniunt suum imperatorem reyereri. In eadem etiam 
contrata yidi unam testitudinem majorem quam esset reyolutio trulli 
ecclesisB sancti Antonii de Padua/ Sic etiam de multis aliis quss forte 
aliquibus incredibilia yiderentur nisi ilia yiderent, quare ea scribere non 
euro. Gum etiam in contrata aliquis moritur habens uzorem, ipse mor- 
tuus comburitur, uxor ejus [yero] yiya.* Nam dicunt quod ipsa cum bug 
marito yadit ad alium mundum ut illic moretur cum eo.* 

24. De Inmla ubi Cynoeephali. 

De ista contrata recedens et nayigans per mare Occeanum yersus 
meridiem reperi multas insulas et contratas. Quarum una est quss yd- 
catur Sacimeram/ Haoc insula magna est, circuiens bene per duo milia 
miliarium ; in qua homines et mulieres facies caninas habent. Hii unum 
boyem adorant pro deo suo, propter quod unusquisque unum boycm 
de auro yel argento semper portat in fronte,in signum quod ille bos est 
deus eorum. Omnes istius contratsB tam homines quam mulieres nudi 
yadunt, nihil de mundo portantes nisi unam toaleam' qua suam yere- 
cundiam ipsi tegunt. Hii sunt magni corpore et yalde fortes in bello, ad 
quod dum sic nudi pergunt solum unum scutum' portant quod eos 
cooperit k capite usque ad pedes. Dum sic autem yadunt ad.bellum et eos 
contingat capere aliquem in bello qui pecuifia exigi*® non possit, statim 
comedunt ipsum. Si yero pecunia ezigi possit eum habita pecunia abire 
permittunt. Rex istius contratas bene tres centas" perlas portat ad 
collum multum magnasM>ropter*^ quod pro diis suis quotidie trecentas 
orationes ipse facit. nabet etiam unum lapidem preciosum bene" 
longum et magnum un& spensft, in manu sua" portat, quem lapidem sic 

^ Bol, qui Dutrinntur a villanis sibi sabjectis sicut apud nos boves et alia 
animalia cooserrantur. 
2 Hak, et Mus, per magnum spatinm maris nihil videtur nisi dorsa pisdnm. 

* Hak, et Mu$, super aridam. 

* Hak. et Iftis. Ibi etiam snnt testndines ita magni sicut est nnus fumus. 
' Hak, et Mut. sicut superius de alia contrata dictum est. 

' ' Ven, ut in alio mundo similiter conversetur cum eo ; Hak, et Miu, add 
ne ibi aliam uxorem acoipiat. 

f Ven, Niouueran; Far, Nichoyera; Hak, Moumoran; Mui, Mochimoran ; 
BoL Insimezan, probably mitrea4 ; Marc* Nicuveran. 

* Hak, et Mu9. unum pannum lineum. 

* Hak, hoi UDum scutum de ferro ; Afut. to tame effect, 

1^ Ven, redimi. ^^ Mu$, cc. 

** Ven, propterea. 

^ F«fi. instead of bene has mbinnm ; Far, ae in text, 

1^ Hak, in digito suo; BoU. ita magnam quam sicut urj& manu gestare possem. 



APPENDIX I. XXI 

• 
portans una flamma ignis ipse videtur esse.^ Et ut dicitur iste est nobilior 
et preciosior lapb qui hodie sit in mundo. Yerumptamen magnus im- 
peratoT Tartarorum Gathaii ilium lapidem preciosum nee vi, nee pecunia 
nee etiam ingenio unquam habere potuit. In hac etiam contrat& ipse 
rex bene justitiam tenet et observat, unde per totum suum regnum 
quilibet potest ire securus.' Multa etiam in hac contrata sunt quss 
etiam ego scribere non euro. 

25. De Insula SUlan et ejus mirahUibus. 

Alia est insula Sillan,' circuiens bene plura quam duo milia miliarium 
in qua sunt serpentes infiniti, multaque alia animalia silvestria in magna 
quant itate^ ut potissime elephantes. In hac contrata est unus maximus 
mens de quo dicunt gentes quod super illo Adam planxit filium suum 
centum* annis. In medio montis hujus* est qusedam pulcherrima 
planicies in qua est unus lacus non multum magnus/ Sed tamen est 
bene in eo aqua magna quam dicunt gentes esse lacrimas quas Adam et 
Eva eflfuderunt, quod tamen non creditur esse verum,^ cum tamen intus 
nascatur aqua ilia. Profunditas' hujus aquse plena est lapidibus preciOsis. 
Quae aqua multum est yrundinibus*^ et sanguisugis plena. Hos lapides 
Don accipit ille rex, sed pro anima sua semel yel bis in anno sub aquas 
ipsos pauperes ire permittit, et quotquot ex lapidibus istis capere 
possunt orones dimittit eis." Et ut ipsi pauperes ire sub aquam possint 
accipiunc limonem et quemdam fructum quem bene pis tan t/* et illo 
bene se ungunt et tunc in aquam se mergunt. Et cum sic sint uncti 
yrundines*' et sanguisugso illos offendere non Talent. Sic isto modo 
pauperes sub intrant aquam, et exeunt accipientes si possunt de 
lapidibus istis preciosis. Aqua quss descendit per montem exit ab isto 
lacu. Et>^ ibi fodiuntur boni robini et boni dyamantes reperiuntur et 
multi, sic et multi lapides alii boni ; ibi etiam reperiuntur bonso 
perlse, quo aqua ista descendit ad mare. Unde dicitur quod rex iste 
habet plures lapides preciosos quam aliquis alius rex qui hodie sit in 
mundo. In hac insui& sunt diyersa genera animalium sicut avium et 
multorum animalium quse morantur ibi« Unde dicunt illi de contrata 

* Ven, irutead of qnem es^se, ha$ qui recte flamma ignis esse videtar; 

Hak. dum habet ilium videtnr ab aliis quasi una flamma ignis et ideo nuUns 
iindet sibi appropinquare ; Mut. nearly the same. 

3 Hak, omits thi$ sentence about the king'i juttieef etc, 

> Ven, Sillam ; Far, Silam ; Hak. Ceilan (the MS. in B. M. has Sylan, al- 
most the only difference from Hakluyt's printed copy) ; Mue. has Salam. 

^ Hak, et Mus, et max. roultit. leonum ursorum et omnium animalium 
rapaciura. 

^ Hak, 500 annis ; Mus. as in text, 

* Ven. In montis cujus cacumine. 

7 Far. has omitted the non ; Hak, et Mus, have parvus. 

" Hak, et Mus, sed probavi hoo falsum esse quia vidi aquam in lacu 

seaturire ; Boll, gentes errore deluse cum tamen videatur ipsa aqna e vis- 

ceribus terre seaturire. 

* Ven. Fundus ; Far, as in text, 
w Yrnndinibus /or hirudiuibus. 

^^ Hak. et Mfis. ut orent pro anima Bnsi,omitting these last three words above. 

^ Ven. limonibns optime frictis optime corpus totum linaot ; Ut, accipiunt 
bavoyrem, id est quemdam fructum quem bene pistant; Far. aco. limones 
qnos bene pistant. 

** as above. 

^ Mus, et in transitu quando retrahit se fodiuntur, etc. 



XXU APPENDIX 1. 

quod h»c aninudia multum forensem lasdunt non illos qui ibi suniuftiL' 
In hftc insula etiam sunt aves multum magnao sicut sunt anseres, qui 
duo capita in se habent.* Hcec etiam insula maximam copiam habet 
Tictualium et multorum aliorum bonorum quss non scribo. 

26. De Ituula Dondin €t efut contueivdinibua twrpiuimu. 

De ista insula recedens et pergens yersus meridiem ad quamdam 
magnam insulam me applicui quad vocatur Dondin,' quss idem est quod 
immundum.* In insula ista mali homines commorantur. Nam ipsi 
carnes aridas* comedunt omnemque alium immundiciam quss jam dici 
posset.* Turpem inter se consuetudinem habent. Nam pater comedit 
filium et filius comedit patrem, uxor maritum et maritus uxorem ; e( 
hoc per istum modum. Ponatur quod pater alicujus illorum infirmetur; 
filius tunc ipse ibit ad astrologum et ad' saoerdotem cui sic dicet: 
Pomine, ite yos ad sciendum a Deo nostro, si pater meus possit ab lata 
infirmitate liberart yel ex ipsft mori debet. Tunc ipse saoerdos et alius 
homo cujus pater infirmatur accedunt ad ipsum jdolum quod est de 
auro yel de argento eique ^iunt orationem et dicunt : Domine, tu es 
Deus noster, quem pro Deo nos adoramus, nobis respondeas ad ea quas 
tibi nos dicemus. • Taliter homo multum infirmatur ; ideo te petimns si 
mori debeat ex hoc languore yel liberari. Tunc demon per os ydoli 
respondet et dicit : Pater tuus non morietur, sed de ista liberabitur 
infirmitate; yerum tale quid sibi facere debes et sic liberabitur ipse. 
Ita quod ille demon totum ipsum ilium modum [dicit] quem circa patrem 
suum tenere debet.^ Deinde filius ad patrem accedit, et sibi dili^nter 
seryit donee ipse totaliter liberatur.* Si autem demon ille dicat ipsum 
debere mori, sacerdos ad eum aocedet et unum pannum*^ super os suum 
ipse ponet, et sic eum statim soffocabit et morietur. Gum autem sic 
interfecit eum ipsum incidet in frusta et ad ipsum comedendum inyita- 
buntur amici, parentes, omnesque hystriones'^ de contrata, et ipsum 
comedent cum cantibus et gaudio magno ; ejus tamen ossa accipient, ilia 
ponentes sub terra cum magna sollempnitate. Parentes autem illi qui 
ad has nuptias non fuerunt sibi ad yerecundiam maximam reputabaint. 
Hos tales** multum reprehendebam, dicens : Quare sic facitis yos cum hoc 
QUod facitis sit contra omnem rationem. Nam si canis aliquis ooci- 
aeretur et ante alium canem poneretur ipse de illo nullatenus 
manducaret ; ne dum yos qui homines yidemini rationales. Ad hoc 
mihi respondebant dicentes, hoc facimus ne yermes comedant ejus 

^ Ven. better nullam forensem ledunt, et solnmmodo illos qui nati sunt in 
ipsa ; Far. to the same efieot, also Hak, 

' Far. abiurdly has mille capita. Probably n taken for m. 

> Ut. Dandin ; Hak, alone luu Bodin, hut probably a miiprint, a$ it is 
Dodin in the MS.^ which 1 take for HakluyVs origimU; Mus. Dodyn ; BoU. 
Dodyn ; Mare. Dondin. 

* For crudas as in Ven. 

' Mus. idem est qnod mandas. 

* Hak. qnsB quasi excogitare non poterit, to which Mus. adds sive did. 
7 Ven. has id est 

B Boll. Tunc demon quandoque ex Idolo de conyalescentia respondit, 
jubens procuratiooe illins in fine aliquas fieri ceremonias et oblationes et 
docens filium qnomodo nutnat patrem. 

" Mtu. Usqae ad pleoam oonvalesoeotiam jaxta docamentam diaboli patri 
ministrat. 

'" Ven. pannnm linnm. " Ut. jaculatores. 

'- Kgo fraler Odoricus. 



APPENDIX I. XXIU 

carnes. Nam si ejus carnes vermes comederent ipsius anima magnas 
pateretur pcenas ; ideoque carnem ejus comedimus, ut ejus anima ali- 
quas Don patiatur poenas. Et sic eis tantum dicere poteram quantum 
ego volebam quia nunquam aliud credere ipsi volebant nee ab isto ritu 
discedere quem tenebant. 

27. Dt Indid et xxiy millibus Insularum quas habet, 

MultsB alisB novitates hie habentur qusD non scribo, nam nisi homo eas 
Tideret, eas credere non posset, cum in toto non sint mundo tot et 
tanta mirabilia qusB sunt in isto regno. Hssc autem scribi feci quse 
certus sum, et in nullo dubito auia sicut refero ita est.^ De* hac insula' 
diligenter inquisivi multos qui hoc sciunt et omnes uno ore locuntur et 
dicunt, quod hsec India bene xxiiii* milia insularum continet sub se, in 
qua etiam sunt bene Ixiiii reges coronas. Major pars hujus insulss' bene 
ab hominibus habitatur. Hie ipsius Indies facio finem et nichil de ea 
dicere toIo aliud, sed solum intendo aliquid dicere de India superiori. 

28. Venit Ft, Odoricus ad Indiam Supeiiorem et Provinciam Manzi, 

Ubi sciendum est quod dum navigarem per mare Occeanum versus 
Orientem per multas dietas ad illam nobilem provinciam Mansi* ego 
veni quam Indiam vocamus superiorem.' De ista India qusesivi 
diligenter Ohristianos, Sarracenos, ydolatros, omnes officiales magni 
Canis^ qui omnes uno ore loquuntur et dicunt quod provincia Manzi' 
habet bene duo millia magnarum civitatum, quad in tantum sunt magnas 
illse civitates quod Trevisium neque Yincentia in ipsarum numerum 
ponerentur ;*^ unde tanta multitudo est in ista contrata quod apud nos 
esset incredibile quoddam." In ipsa est maxima copia panis, vini, risi, 
carnium, piscium, omniumque victualium, quibus homines utuntur in 
mundo. Omnes homines hujus provincias sunt artifices'' et mercatores 
qui paupertatem quam habeant** dummodo se suis manibus valeant 
adjuvare nunquam aliquam peterent elemosinam. Hii homines satis 
sunt corpore pulchri,'^ pallidi tamen, habentes barbam ita raram et 
longam sicut" murilegas, id est cattse ; mulieres vero pulcherrimse de 
mupdo.** 

^ Hah. Ego autem coram Deo nihil hio refero nisi illud de quo certus sum 
sicut homo certificare potent. 

s Ven. hai in imtead of de. 

' Far, De hac India Inferiori {no doubt Insula U wrong) sunt alise hieo in- 
sole qiisB nominavi et inquisivi multos qui hoc sciunt, etc. ; Boll. De roagoi- 
tudioe hujus inferioris Indiae a mukiH, etc. 

* Hak, 4400 ; Boll, Viginti quatuor mi Ilia. 

' Mut, istius Indiec ; so aUo Boll, Marc, hat queste isole, which indicatet 
the right reading, 
' Mut. Mansife; Ven, et Far. Manzi ; Hah. Manci ; BoU, Manzy. 
^ Hak. quae India vocatur a Latinis. 

* Ven, Cbaam. • Mu$. Manoy. 
'0 Far. Tarvisinm. 

11 BolL intra muros ipsarum cujoslibet possent stare. 
1' Ven. artists. 

i> Mut. nnllam paupertatem habent ; Boll, qui numquam depauperantur. 
^* Hak, Satis formobi. 

^ Hak. rasas et parvas barbas habentes ; Mut, raras et parvas sed tamen 
loDgas sicut rourilegi. 
if Mut. iHilcherrimie et forraobis ; Boll, nimium suut formosa^. 



XXIV APPENDIX I. 



28. Dt CivUate Cem-Kcdan, 

Prima civitas hujus provincisa quara inyeni Tocatur Gens scolan ;^ hiec 
civitas bene ita magna est pro tribus Yenetiis,' distans a mari per 
unam dietam, posita super unum flumen, cujus aqua propter* ipsum 
mare ascendit ultra terram bene xii dietis. Totus populus hujus 
civitatis totiusque provincise Manzi Indiseque superioris ydolatrat.^ 
HsBC ciyitas tantum nayigium habetet ita magnum quod quasi aliquibus 
incredibile videretur, unde tota Ytalia non habet navigium ita mag- 
num sicut hsec civitas sola habet.* In h4c ciritate haberi possunt bene 
trecentse* libne zinziberis recentis minori uno grosso. In hac etiam 
sunt majores et pulchriores anseres ac melius forum^ quam hoc sit in 
mundo, unde unus illorum anserum est bene magnus pro duobus 
de nostris, totus albus ut lac, habens unum os super caput unius ovi 
quantitate, qui talis coloris est qualis sanguis est. Et hii anseres 
nabent sub gu]& unam pellem per unum semissem^ pendentem; hii 
etiam sunt pinguisftimi ; unus quorum bene coctus et conditus minor 
uno grosso habere tur. Et sicut est de anseribus sic etiam de anatibus 
et gallinis, quse illic sunt ita magnse quod magnum mirum est. Hie etiam 
majores sunt serpentes qui sunt in mundo ; hii multum capiuntur ab istis 
a quibus postea dulciter comeduntur. Unde in tam sollempne ferculum 
habentur ii serpentes, quod faciens fieri conTivium unum' de istis non 
habens serpen tibus nil facere diceretur. Usee etiam civitas magnam habet 
habundantiam omnium Tictualium qusB sunt in mundo. 

30. De nohili civitate Zayton et de pastu ydclorum, 

De ista contrata recedens et inde transiens per multas terras et 
civitates, veni ad quamdam nobilem terram nomine Zajton.*^ In qua 
nos fratres minores habemus duo loca; ad quse portayi ossa illorum 
nostrorum fratrum minorum qui passi fuerunt martirium pro fide Jhesu 
Christi. In hac civitate est copia omnium illorum quss sunt necessaria 
humansB vitse." Nam tres libree et octo uncziae zuchari minori dimidio 
grosso^' habentur ibi. Heec civitas magna est sicut bis esset" Bononia. 
In hac multa sunt monasteria religiosorum qui ydola universal iter 
adorant. In uno autem istorum monasteriorum ego fui in quo bene 
erant tria inilia religiosorum habentium^^ xi millia ydola;** et unum 
illorum ydolorum quod minus aliis esse videbatur erat bene ita mag- 

I Ven, Conscala; Vt. Censcula; Far. Censcalam; Hah, Censkalon, alto 
Mui* BoU. Soustalay (probably misread) ; Mare, Censscalan. 

' Ven. qusB est in triple major Vincenoia; Ut. at in text ; so also Far.; and 
Mas., though in another place. 

3 Far, hat prope; Hak. prope mare cui contiguatnr (?); Mut. cnjus aqua 
propter mare ita contigunm bene per xn dietas super ipsam terram ascendiu 
Boll, at in text. 

* Fen. Ydola oolit. 

^ This last comparison is omitted by Hah, 

* BoU. centum libre uno minori grosso Yeneto. 

7 Ven. in meliori foro ; Hah. maius forum {probably tnitread). 
" Hak. et Mut. semipedalem. 

* JIfuf . hat uDum ad minus (au moint). 

^ Far, Caicham ; Mut, Kay con ; Hak. Kaitam ; Boll, Saiton ; Mare, Zaitan. 
" Hak. pro lenissimo foro. *' Ut. minori pretio uno grosso* 

1^ Mut. ut fideliter assero. ^* Boll, sub cur& au&. 

1^ Far. omits the millia. 



APPENDIX I. XXV 

Dum esset sicut Sanctus Christophonis. I11& autem hor& qu& istis 
diis suis dant ad manducandum ivi ad Tidendum. Et hii isto modo 
I comedere Bibi dant. Omnia quae illis offerunt comedenda eis calidissima^ 
^- porrigunt, ita quod fumus illoruin ascendit ad ydola quern ipsi pro 
•ri comes tione istorum ydolorum esse dicunt, aliud autem totum pro so 

'=■ habent et manducant;' et sic isto modo dicunt se bene pascere deos 

"- Buos.' Yerumptamen hsec terra de melioribus est quse hodie sint in 

.: xnundo; et hoc in iis que posset habere corpus humanum.^ Multa 

.• i alia de hac terra dici possent quss non ulterius modo scribo. 

31. De eivitate Fuzo et de mirabilibus inodU piscandu 

7 De hac contrata yeni versus orientem ad unam civitatem quas vocatur 

Fucho,* quiB bene circuit per xxx miliaria, in qua sunt majores galli qui 
sunt in mundo. Gallinsd vero* sunt albss ut nix, non habentes pennas sed 
solum lanam ut pecus sunt portantes. Hsbc civitas multum pulchra et 
sita super mare de qu& recedens iyi xviii dietis transiens per multas 
terras et civitates, aliaque diversa multa. Dum autem sic irem veni 
ad unum magnum montem, in unius cujus latere mentis, omnia 
animalia illic habitancia nigra sunt,' et homines et. mulieres Yalde 
estraneum modum vivendi habent. Ab alio autem latere mentis omnia 
animalia alba sunt," hominesque et mulieres ab aliis diversum modum 
ylTendi habent. Omnes mulieres innuptse unum magnum barile de 
cornu in capite portant ut cognoscantur quia nuptse sunt. Hinc trans- 
iens per xviii alias dietas et per multas terras et civitates, et veniens 
ad unum magnum flumen, applicui ad unam civitatem quse per trans- 
, versum istud flumen habet unum pontem, in capite cujus in dome 

cujusdam hospitis fui, qui michi volens complacere dixit : Si tu vis 
videre bene piscari veni mecum ; et sic me duxit super pontem istum. 
In quo dum sic essem aspexi atque vidi in illis suis barchis^ merges*^ 
super perticas alligatos, quos postea ille homo uno filo ligavit ad gulam 
ne illi se in aquam submergentes et pisces capientes illos comedere 
possent." Undo in barcha una posuit tres magnas cistas unam ab uno 
capite navis, secundam ab alio, tertiam vero posuit in medio. Dum 
autem sic fecisset illos dissolvit merges, qui se postea in aquam submer- 
gebant, et sic pisces quam plurimos capiebant, quos ipsimet postea in 
illis cistis ponebant, unde in parv& horft omnes iUsD cistsd fuerunt plenss. 
Ipse autem dum sic plenas essent a collo eorum filum accipiebat et eos 
in aqua submergere permittebat, ut inde piscibus pascerentur ; cum 
autem pasti essent ad sua loca revertuntur, et eos ibi ligat sicut prius 
erant ; ego autem de piscibus illis manducavi.'* Transiens inde per 
multas dietas alium modum piscandi ego vidi. Nam sunt homines habentes 

1 Hah, et Mut, et fumigantia. 

3 Boll. ha» sumunt et pro anis nsibns reservsnt. 

3 IftM. Et sic de fame tantum decs sues pascnnt. 

** Ven, Et hoo in necessariis corpori humani. 

^ Ven, Fazo; Far, Fuo; Rah, Fako; itfu«. Fuco; Boll. Suctio (ifiMreod p}'o* 
bably) ; Mare. Fuzo. 

A BoU, ita magDs non sunt, sed. 

7 Bak. ut oarbo ; BoL ha$ Hmply in cajns latere nigra animalia morabantur, 
ex alio autem latere ejusdem montis animalia sunt alba. 

' Hak. ut nix. 

' Hak. hai brachiis (clearly an error) and $o %ran$laUd. 

^ Far. hai smergos. 

*^ Ven. ne cum pisces cepissent ipsos deglutire possent. 

^- Hak, et optimi mibi videbantur. 



XXn APPENDIX I. 

unam tinam ca1id4 aqu& plenam in ud& barchft, qui nudi erant habentes 
Binguli post coUum unum saccum, et se submergentes in aquam, places 
manibuB capiebant ponentes eos in saccis Buis, et cum ascendebant 
eos in barcha Bua ponebant ; postea in aquam illam calidam Be ponentes;^ 
tunc aliuB ibat faciens sicut primuB, et Bic isto modo multOB pisces 
capiebant.' 

32. De eivitate Canaaid qua maxima ut de mundo. 

Hinc ego recedeuB veni ad aliam civitatem nomine OansaiaB' quod 
idem cBt quod civitas cqdU. Hbbc civitas major aliqu& qusB sit in mundo/ 
et bene circuit c miliaria. In ipBa non est Bpansa^ teme que aon 
habitetur bene ; et multociens erit domus aliqua qu» bene z vel xii 
supellectiles* habebit.' Haec ciyitas etiam habet burgia" ma^a habentia 
majorem gentem quam ipsa civitas tenet. Hadc xii portas | habet] prin- 
cipales, et prope quamlibet illarum portarum ferme ad yiii miliaria sunt 
ciyitates majores quam essent civitas Yenetiarum et Padua, unde bene 
ibitur sex vel septem dietis per unum illorum burgorum, et tamen 
Videbitur modicum permeasse. Hssc ciWtas posita est in aquis lacunarum 
qu89 manet et stat, sicut civitas Yenetiarum.^ Ipsa etiam habet plures 
quam xii millia pontium,^® in quolibet quorum morantur custodiae 
custodientes ipsam civitatem pro magno Cane. A latere hujus civitatis 
labitur unum flumen juxta quod sita est civitas ista, sicut Ferraria ipsa 
manet/* unde longior est quam lata.** De ipsa autem diligenter scivi et 
qusesivi a Christianis Sarracenis ydolatris cunctisque aliis, qui omnes 
loquuntur uno ore quod bene centum miliaria circuit. Per dominum 
etiam unum mandatum habetur ; nam quilibet ignis solvit unum balis** 
annuatim ipsi Cani magno id est quinque cartas ad insttfr bombicis,** 
quse unum cum dimidio florenum valent. Hunc etiam habent modum ; 
nam bene x vel xii supellectiles" faciunt unam ignem, et sic solum pro 
uno igne solvent ; hii autem ignes sunt Ixxxv** Thuman, cum aliis 
quatuor Sarracenorum qui constituunt Ixxxviii.*' Unum autem Thuman 

^ Ven. ponebant ; Mu$. balneanint. 

- Hak. quite omits this second fishing story. 

3 Ven, Campsay ; Far. ChaosanaB ; Hak. et Mus, Kanasia; Bol Cbamsana ; 
Marc. Cam say 6. 

* Boll, omni alia quam conspexi. 

' Ven. Particula; Far. non est terra; Mtu. nee in ea vidi spatiom give 
placeam vacaam quin bene inhabitaretur. 

< Hak. has imo vidi multos domos habentesx vel xii solaria unum supra 
aliud, which it enough to condemn the authority ofthatvenion ; Mua. has the 
name. 

7 Hak. et Mut. suburbia. " Bol, id est familias. 

' Hak. Sita est in aquis que semper stant et neo fluunt neo reflnunt; vallum 
tamen habent propter vencum sicut civitas Yenetiarum ; Mm. to eame effect. 

^ Hak. decem millia et 2... quorum multos numeravi et transivi; Mue. 
xii millia. 

" Ven. et Far. Siout Ferraria juxta Padam ; so Boll. also. 

1' Mtu. Haec sicut Ferraria ipsa manet nam longior est quam lata. 

^ Mus. balistorium. 

^^ Far. unum balis 15 cartas bombieis ; but this should probably be balls t. 
cartas, etc. {i./or id est), as Hak. has it <ictually, 

^"^ Mus. adds gratuitously id est solaria sive domus. 

*^ Far. Ixxv ; Hak. as in text. 

*7 Far. Ixxviiii ; Hak. as in text ; Mus. has viiicv et ixcix, but evidently 
means 85 and 80. 



APPENDIX I. XXVll 

beoe X milia ignium facit. Beliquorum yero alii sunt Christiaiii, alii 
mercatores, aliique transeuntes per contratam, unde multum fui mi- 
latus quod tot corpora humana poterant habitare simuL In ea est copia 
magna panis, camium de porco,* et vini, ac risi ; quod yinum yigim' 
aliter nominatur, quod etiam potacio nobUis reputatur : omnium etiam 
aliorum yictualium illic copia maxima reperitur. 

• 

33. De ptodam mirainU quod vidU Fr, Odoricus in quodam 

moncuUrio ydololatrarum* 

Hsec est ciyitas regalis in qu& rex Manzi olim morabatur. £t in ea 
quatuor nostri fratres minores* unum potentem hominem conyerteruot, 
in dome cujus^ hospitabar, unde mihi aliquando dicebat Atha,* id est, 
Pater, yis yen ire yidere terram 7 £t sibi semel dixi me yelle ire, unde 
asceudimus unam barcham et sic iyimus ad unum magnum^ illorum 
monasteriorum qu» ibi erant, ad quod cum iyissemus unum illorum 
religiosorum yocayit dicens : Y ides hunc Raban* Francki (scilicet istum 
yinim religiosum Franch), iste yenit inde ubi occidit sol, et nunc yadit 
Cambaleth,' ut roget" yitam pro magno Cane. Ideo sibi ostendas aliquid 
quod ipse yidere possit, si hie est mirabile,' ut si reyerteretur ad suas 
contratas, dicere possit tale quod noyum yidi in Gansai. Tunc iste 
dixit se libenter yelle ostendere sibi aliquid noyum. Et tune iste duos 
magnos mastellos'^ accepit pleuos hiis ques superfuerunt a ment^.^* Et 
ipse tunc statim" apperuit cujusdam yiridarii portam per quam intra- 
yimus in yiridarium illud, nunq autem in eo est qniaam monticulus*^ 
plenus arboribus amoenis ; et dum in eo sic essemus, ipse Oimbalum'* 
unum accepit, et illud incepit pulsare,i* ad cujus sonitum multa ani- 
malia yaria et diyersa de illo monticulo descenderunt, sicut nunc essent 
symias, catti, maymones, similiter et multa alia animalia" circa ipsum 
se aptayerunt ad se inyicem ordinata. Et cum circa ipsum sic essent 
posita et ordinata, ipse paropsides'" posuit ante ilia et sicut competebat 
comedere sibi dabat :^' hsec autem cum sic comedissent cymbalum pulsare 
ccepit, et ad sua loca reyertebantur cuncta. Dum autem sic yiderem 

* Hak. et camiom de porco priecipue. He omits the biffini. 

' TkU should run as in Ven. risi et yini, quod vinnm bigini aliter nomina- 
tur ; Far. also has it in an unintelligible shape; Mus, Aa«carniam poroinorum 
vini et rigi quod bignii aliter nominatur, de quo nobilis fit potatio inter eos. 

' Boll, has erroneously prsedicti. 

^ Far. Continue; also Mas.; Hak. in ctgus bospitio continue habitabam 
dom fui ibi. 

^ Ven. Arch a ; Far. Arm ; Hak. Ara ; Boll. Ara. 

' Ven. Franohum; BoU. has Babi. 

7 Ven. Cambalecb. " Hak. deprecetur. 

* Ven. omits tliesefour words^ as do Ut. and the others, 

i<> Mus. Kanasti; Hak. Ganasi&. " BoU. sportas. 

** Hak. et duxit me ad unam perdusaro parram quam apemit oum clave, et 
appamit viridarinm gratiosum, etc. 

^ Mus. oum clave. 

^* Hak. siout unum campanile. 

1' Ven. Timpanum ; Far. timbalnm ; BoU. Tintinnabulo. 

(^ Hak. siout percutitur qaando monachi intrant refeotorinm. 

'7 Ven. has here quss faciem habebant humanam quae erant circa tria millin 
qnie circa, etc; Far. animalia babentia faciem hominis; Mus. absurdly hsa 
cciii miljia, probably misoopied for circa iii millia; Hak. 40()0. 

1^ Ven. parassides. 

'^ Boll. Secundam nature suie distribuit illis cibum. 



XXVlll APPENDIX I. 

ista, multum copi ridere,* dicens : Qualia sunt ista animalia.' Qui 
respondit : Hibc animalia animsd sunt nobilium yirorum quaa nos hie 
pascimus amore dei.' £i autem sic respondent!, dicens,* Haoc animse non 
sunt sed solum bestiss et animalia ipsa sunt. Michi autem respondebat 
dicens, Yerum non est quod h»c aninmlia sint, sed solum animse 
nobilium sunt istss, unde unus illorum sicut fuit nobilis homo, sic ejus 
anima in aliquid istorum animalium nobilium ipsa intrat ; animse yero 
rusticorum in animalia vilia intrant et habitant. Sic autem isto modo 
dicere poteram sibi multa quss tamen aliud nunquam credere volebat.* 
Si quis autem dicere et enarrare hujus civitatis magnitudinem yellet, 
illiusque magna mirabilia quas sunt in e^ unus bonus quatemuB station is 
hsBc talia tenere non posset. Yerum ista est nobilior et major ciyitaa 
pro mercimoniis quam habeat totus mundus.* 

34. De civitaU CkUenfu, de maximo Jlumine Talatf, etptfgmceis. 

De ist& recedens civitate per sex dietas yeni ad unam aliam ciyitatem 
magnam quae yocatur Chilenfo ;' hujus muri civitatis bene per zl miliaria 
circueunt ipsi. In ista etiam ciyitate sunt bene tres cent! et xl' pontes 
lapidei pulchriores quam totus habeat mundus. In hac ciyitate fuit 
prima sedes Regis Manzi in qua ipse morari solebat. Hssc bene habitatur 
a gente et in ea est ita magnum nayigium quod est mirabile yalde. 
Ipsa bene sita est omniumque bonorum copiam habet magnam. Ab 
hac ciyitate recedens yeni ad quoddam flumen magnum quod yocatur 
Talaj,' et est majus flumen quod sit in mundo, nam ubi strictius est 
bene est latum septem miliaribus. Uoc flumen per mediam terram pig- 
meorum scilicet yidinnorum** transit, quorum civitas yocatur Chathan," 
qusB de melioribus et pulchrioribus civitas est quae sint in mundo ; hii 
pigmei sunt magni tribus spansis, qui faciunt magna opera Qoton, id est 
bombicis," quam aliqui homines qui sunt in mundo. Homines autem 

^ Boll, illi seni. 

' Ven. hai inttead Quid hoc indicare yellit: Mm, Tunc admiratus quas 
esseot animalia ista quasi ridendo multum inqaisivi; BolL dixi Edissere 
mihi quid iste signiBcat? 

3 Hak. et Mu9. Dei qui regit orbem. * For dixi. 

* Hak. Incepi istam abnsionem improbare, sed nihil yaluit sibi. Non enim 
poterat eredere quod aliqua anima posset sine oorpore manere ; Boll, hat Et 
licet multa sibi dicerem et predicarem numqnam tamen ipsnm ab h&c peifldia 
potui revooare. 

6 Hak. omits this tentence about the city altogether; Mat. Si quis ergo mira- 
bilia et mercimonia qun in ek sunt dioere et enarrare vellet nemo occidentalia 
partis mundi eredere bibi posset. 

7 So alto in Ven.\ Ut. hat Ghilemphe; Far, Gbilopho or Ghilepho; Hak, 
Chilenzo, hiU the greater Muteum MS. hat Chilemfo; Mut, Cbilefu or Chileofu; 
Bull. Cbyleso, bene muratam ; Mare. Chilenfo. 

^ Ven. treeenti et sexaginta ; Far. iiiclx : BoU. only quadraginta. 

> Ven. alto hat Talay; Mut. et Hak. Thalay; Mare. Talay ; Ut. Dotolay; 
Far. Tbanai; with the following interpolation to juttify the blunder, de quo 
scripsit Isidorus 12** libro etymologiarum, a Thaoo primo rege Sitharom de- 
nominatusqui ex nivosis (?) fluviis descendens determinavit Europam ab Asia 
et est inter ii partes mundi medias currens, atqae in Pontum flaens ; BolL 
hat Thannay. 

^ Ven. omitt thete two wordt; Ut.hat id est bidainorum; Far. per medium 
terram bidninoram ; Mut. pigroeomm, i.e., vidimiorum ; jf are. Bidoyni and 
Bidaini. 

>> Ven. Caobam ; XJt. Taohara ; Far. Cathan ; Hak. Kakam ; Mut. Kaycon. 

^3 Hak. Goton et Bombycinam. Omitt all that/olluwt about pigmiet. 



APPENDIX I. XXIX 

magni qui ibi sint filios generant qui plus qoftm pro dimidietate similes 
iilis pigmeis sunt qui sunt ita parri. Ideoque tot istorum panrorum 
ibi generantur et nascuntur quod sine numero quasi sunt.^ 

35. De civiUUibua lamzai et Mentu. 

Dum per istud flumen del Talai sic irem transiyi per multas ciyitates 
et veni ad unam que Tocatur Jamzai,* in qua est unus locus nostrorum 
fratrum minorum. In hac etiam sunt tres ecclesiss Nestorinorum, 
scilicet yirorum religiosorum :' hsec civitas nobilis est et magna, habens 
bene xlriii^ vel Iviii tuman ignium, quorum unum quisque tuman bene 
est X milia. In hac civitate sunt omnia ilia quibus vimnt Christian! et 
sunt in copi& magnM Unde Dominus istius civitatis solum de sale 
bene habet de redditu quinquaginta milia* Tuman balisi. Balisus 
autem Talet unum florenum et dimidium, et ita unum tuman balisi 
bene constituit quindecim milia florenorum. Yerumptamen unam gratiam 
huic populo fecit Dominus iste. Nam sibi dimittebat cc tuman ne' 
caritudinem' haberent. Hanc autem consuetudinem habet civitas ista ; 
nam quando unus homo vult fiaxsere unum magnum pastum vel con- 
yivium suis amicis, ad hoc sunt hospicia deputata ; nam illis hominibus 
qui hoc hospicium tenent dicet Ule homo : Tu hospes facias mihi con- 
yivium istud pro quibusdam' amicis meis, et pro illo yolo ezpendere 
tantum ; sic autem convivium mihi fiet bene et ordinate, et michi melius 
senrietur ibi quam in domo mea propria.**' Hssc etiam civitas maximum 
navigium habet, per x miliaria ab ista civitate. In capite istius fluminis 
magni del Talai una alia ciyitas est quss vocatur Menzu :" hiec civitas 
majus nayigium et pulchrius habet quam alia ci vitas quee forte sit in 
mundo. Omnes illss nayes albsQ sunt ut nix, zesso*^ depictra. In ipsis 
etiam sale*' hospicia multa quss alia ita pulchra habent et ordinata, 
sicut unquam in mundo possent, unde est quasi quoddam incredibile 
audire et yidere hujus nayigii magnitudinem. 

36. De Flumine Caramoran^ et de quibusdam civitatibue, 

Ab ista ciyitate recedens et transiens per iiii dietas per multas terras 
et ciyitates per aquam dulcem, yeni ad quamdam ciyitatem quae yocatur 

1 Ven. addi hi pigmsBi formosi sunt tarn mares quam feminie per magni- 
tudinem suam, et feminss nnbunt in quinto anno; habent autem animam 
rationalem sicut nos ; Ut. hat the iame^ with faroosi itutead of formosi. 

' Ven. lamzay; Ut, Jamzai; Far, lantu; Hah. lanza; Mu«. Jancus; Boll. 
lanzi ; Mare, Jamzai. 

* Far. omits this explanation, which appears to be officious and inaccurate. 
^ Hah. 48 Thuman eimply ; Mum. xWiii vel 1 thamam. 

* Hah. omnia victoalia et aoimalia in magna copia, etc. 

< Both Ven. and Far. have manus, which teenu a mistake ; Hak. has 60 
Thuman, hut 200 below ; Mare, mani di Thuman balis. 
7 Ven. Balissius ; Far, has balis autem 4 valet, etc. 

* Ven. carestiam. ' Ven. has pro tot amicis meia. 

^ This is wrong. It should be as in Ven,; et melias servitur eis quam in 
domo propria factum esset. Far, has to this effect also. Hak. has it stupidly 
Et per illnm modum melius conyivant amici in pluribna hospitiis quam faoerent 
in nni. Mus. to effect of Ven. 

" Far. Mencbn; Hak, Montn; Mus, Mencu; Boll. Mensy ; Jftfarc. Menzu. 

" Ven. gippso. 

" Both Ven. et Far, have this sale, which I do not understand. If Baled for 
Halls, it should apparently have been salas. Mare, has in quelle vi sono le 
sale, albergbi e molte altre oose, etc 

^ Ven. viii ; Far. ooto, and so the othen'. 



XXX APPENDIX I. 

Lenzin :^ hiec civitas raper posita est uoum flomen quod Tocatur Gan- 
monun ;' hoe flumeD per medium Gathaii transit, cui magnum dampnom 
infert quando rampit, sicut est Padus tiansiens per Ferrartam.' Bum 
sic irem per flumen istud versus orientem, multis dietis transiens per 
terras multas et civitates veni ad civitatem unam quae yocatur Suzumato.* 
Hsec ciyitas habet majorem habundantiam serici quam forte aliqua 
terra de mundo, nam quando ibi major caritudo serici possit esse, bene 
tamen xl libras habentur minori viii solidorum grossorum.* In ea etiam 
est magna copia omnium mercimoniorum, similiter etiam panis,* omni- 
utnque aliorum bonorum. 

37. De eiviUUibu9 moffnis Cambalec atque Tayda^ et de PakUio Canis, 

Tunc de ista civitate recedens, transiens per muTtas civitates et terras 
versus orientem, veni ad iliam' nobilem civitatem Cambalec : base 
civitas multum est vetus et antiqua, quso est [in] ilia provincia Gathaii. 
Hanc ceperunt Tartar!, juxta quam ad dimidium miliare unam aliam 
civitatem fecerunt nomine Gaydo;" h»c xii portas habet, intra quam- 
libet quarum sunt duo miliaria magna, unde in' utramque civitatem 
bene habitatur*^ et circuitus istarum duarum civitatum plura ambit 
quam xl miliaria. In h&c civitate, Canis" ille magnus suam sedem habet, 
ubi etiam unum palatium suum magnum habet, cujus muri" bene per 
quatuor miliaria circueunt. Intra quod spatium multa alia pulchra 
palatia** sunt. In curtivo hujus palatii magni factus est mens unus, 
in quo edificatum est unum palatium aliud quod est pulcherrimum de 
mundo. Hie etiam mons arboribus est plantatus, propter quod Mons 
Viridis nominatur. A latere mentis hujus factus est unus magnus 
lacus, per transversum cujus unus pons pulcherrimus factus est. In 
isto lacu tot sunt anseres silvestres, anathes, et Cesenae^* quod valde 
mirabile est, unde quando vult venari non oportet eum domum exire 
pro venatione, cum ilia sit in dome. In hoc etiam palatio sunt viridaria 
plena diversis generibus bestiarum, quas quantumque vult ipse venari 
potest absque hoc quod extra domum vadat. Palatium aut-em ipsum in 
quo sedes sua est multum magnum et pulchrum est, cujus terra duobus 
passibus elevata est. Ipsum interius habet xxiiii^* columpnas de auro. 
Omnes muri ejus cooperti sunt pellibus rubeis, de quibus dicitur qued 

' Far, Lencim ; Hak. et Jftit. Lencyn ; BoU, Lensium ; Mare. Lenzin. 
' Ftfn., Hak. Caramoran ; Far, Tharamoram ; BotL Tharamorim ; Marc. 
Caramoram. 

* Ven. Dum mmpitur siout faoiC Padus Ferrarie. 

* Far. et Boll, Sooumat; Hak. Somaooto; Mut. Sumakoto; Mare. Suzumato. 
' Ven. viii grossorum limply. So Far. BolL octo solidis grot»8orum 

minornm. 

> Far. vini ; Hak. panis vini carnium pisciura et omnium specierum electa- 
riim. Nearly lo aUo in Mtu. 

7 MuB. nominatam et nobilem. 

B Ven, Taydo ; Far. et Hak. Caido; Mus. Taydo ; Boll Thayde; Mare. Taydo. 

* Ven. et inter, inttead of onde in, and Mtu, 
10 Hak. ita quod faciunt quasi uoam ciWlatem. 

u Boll, incorrectly et numquam oivitas bene per homines habitator. 
» Ven. Cbaam. 

1* Boll, cujus muri per qnadrum se extend ant. 
^* Hak. et Mtu. dominonim de famiU4 suS. 

u Ven. Cesani ; Far. Cesenie ; Hak. heu only anserum silvestrium ; Mtu. 
ai)<«erum, anatum et omnium aliamm avium aqnaticamm ; Marc, hoe Cesani. 
i< Hak. 14. 



APPENDIX I. XXXI 

nobilioreB pelles sunt qu» tint in inundo. In medio ftutem palatio est 
una masna pingua^ alta passibus pluribus quam duobuB, que tota est 
de uno lapide precioso, nomine merdatas.' Ipsa etiam tota est auro 
ligata et m quolibet angulo ipsius est unus serpens qui verberat os 
fortissime, h»c etiam pinona retia habet de perlis magnis quce pendent 
ab elk, que retia forte sunt lata una spansa. rer pignam banc defertur 
potua per conductus qui in curi& regis habetur.* Juxta banc etiam 
pif:nam manent multa yasa aurea, cum quibus omnes volentes bibere 
bibunt. In ipso autem palatio sunt multi pavones'de auro. Gum aliquis 
Tartarus aliquod festum vult facere domino suo, tunc sic sunt per- 
cutientes ad invicem manus suas ; tunc bii pavones suas alas emittunt 
et ipsi tripudiare videntur. Hoc autem fit vel arte djabolica Tel ingenio 
quodam sub terra fit/ 

38. De cwrid Domini Canu, 

Quum ipse dominus super suam sedem sedet imperialem a sinistro 
latere manet regina, et uno gradu inferius duss aliss morantur mulieres 
quas ipse tenet ;^ in infimo autem cunctss dominsd parentelse. Omnes 
iU» quae nuptso sunt unum pedem hominis super caput babent, longum 
bene Drachium cum dimidio ; subter illo pede sunt pennss gruis in sum- 
mitate, et totus ille pes est omatus perils magnis, unde si perlss magnn 
in mundo sunt et pulchrsa hsec ita sunt in omamentum istarum domi- 
naram.* A latere autem dextro ipsius regis moratur ejus filius prime- 
genitUBy qui post ipsum regnare debet ; inferius autem ab istis morantur 
omnes Uli qui sunt de sanguine regie. Illic etiam quatuor sunt scripto- 
res scribentes omnia verba quss dicit ipse rex. Ante cujus conspectum 
stant barones sui multique alii innumerabiles, nuUus quorum loqui 
auderet ullo mode nisi a magno domino peteretur, istis etiam bystrioni- 
bus exceptis, qui suum dominum vellent Isstificare. Hii tamen hystriones 
nil aliud facere audent nisi secundum quod rex ipse legem imposuit eis. 
Ante portas ipsius palatii stant barones custodientes et yidentes ne 
idiquid limen** bostii tangat, quod si aliquis faciens reperiretur ipsi eum 
acriter yerberarent.' Gum autem dominus iste magnus aliquid conyivium 
facere fieri yult, secum babet xiiii milia barones*^ cum coronis in capite 
sibi in conyiyio senrientes, et quilibet yestem talem" babet in dorso, 
quod solum perlsB quss ibi sunt super qualibet yeste yalent plus quam 
xy milia florenorum. Guria ipsius optime ordinata est yidelicet per 
denarium** centenarium et millenarium, unde omnes inter se taliter 
sunt ordinati et sibi inyicem respondentes, quod de officiis suis, nee de 
aliquo alio nunquam defectus aliquis inyenitur. Ego frater Odoricus 
ibi fui bene tribus annis in bac sua ciyitate et multotiens in istis suis 
festis presens fui, nam nos fratres minores in b&c curiA su& babemus 

> Ven, piffna. 

' Yen, Merdacas ; Far, Merdaias ; Hak, Merdoohas ; Mart, Merdaoas. 

' Ven^ Far. babentar. 

* Hak. arte magic& vel aliqnft cauteU snbterraneft ; JfiM. nearly &o. 
' Hak. et Mum. pro se quaodo uon potest ad reginam aocedere. 

* Hak. omits tbis seotence. 

7 Ven. better tamen ; Hak. et Mtu. exceptis fatais et bistrionibas. 

" Far. limitem. ' Hak. omit$ qaod verberarent. 

^ Hak. portantes oiroolos et coronolas. 
^> Mut. talari vente. ^ Ven. decenarinm. 

1* Far. hat ardy videlicet per C. This MS. (or the transcript furnished) 
would be unintelligible in many places without collation. 



XXXU APPENDIX I. 

locum deputatam, et nos semper bic oportet ire^ et dare sibi benedie- 
tionem nostram, unde diligenter petii et inquisivi a Ohristianis, Sarra- 
cenis cunctisque jdolatris a nostris etiam conversis ad fidem,' qui in 
ilia curia magni sunt barones aspicieotes solum ad personam regis, 
et hii omnes uno ore loquuntur dicentes quod solum hystriones sui sunt 
bene tredecim tuman/ unum quorum bene x milia constituit hys- 
trionum ; alii autem custbdientes canes, bcBtias silyestres, et aves bene 
sunt [....] tuman.^ .Medici rero qui custodiunt personam regis sunt 
ydolatrsB numero quadringenti,* Christiani autem yiii, et unus Sarrace- 
nus: hii omnes totum illud habent quod est sibi necessarium a cuiik regis. 
Ejus autem reliqua sua &milia ibi sine numero possidetur. 

39. De itinere Domini Canis, 

Dominus vero ille in estate moratur in quadam terra qua» Tocatur 
Zandu," posita sub tramontana et frigidior habitabilis que nodie sit in 
mundo, in hyeme Tero in Cambalec ipse manet.' £t cum yult ab un& 
terr& ad aliam equitare, hunc modum ipse tenet. Nam quatuor ex- 
ercitus equitum ipse habet, quorum unus diet& un& ipsum antecedit, 
secundus ali4 diet&, tertius similiter, et quartus ; ita quod semper in 
medio vadit in modum crucis.^ Cum autem sic vaduut omnes habent 
suas dietas ordinatas, unde omnia ilia ibi inyeniunt quss sibi sunt 
necessaria ad comedendum. Qens vero quso yadit cum eo ambulat isto 
modo; nam rex ille super uno curru a duabus rotis vadit, in quo 
facta est una pulcherrima sala,' tota de lignis aloe et auro omata, in- 
super perils*^ magnis et pulchris et multis lapidibus preciosis ; qua- 
tuorque elephantes bene ordinati et parati ducunt istum currum, quern 
etiam et quatuor equi pulcherrimi^^ bene cooperti insuper sunt ducentes. 
£t juxta quem et quatuor barones qui yocantur Zuche yadunt cus- 
todientes et tenentes currum ne aliquis offenderet currum ne aliquid 
offenderet istum regem. Insuper et secum super currum portat xii" 
zirifalcos, quos dum sic sedet in curru super cathedra sua vel sede et 
yidet aliquas yolantes ayes post eas ab ire permittit. Et ad unius 
lapidis jactum nullus currui audet appropinquare nisi illi qui ad hoc 
sunt specialiter deputati. Unde sicut iste rex magnus yadit, sic et in 
gradu Buo suss yadunt mulieres isto modo ; quod et suus primogenitus 
tenet et obseryat, unde quasi incredibile esset illam gentem ymaginari 
quam dominus iste habet. Exercitus autem illi qui ipsum dominum 
attendunt^^ quingenti^* thuman habentes ilia a domino quae sibi sunt 
necessaria integraliter et complete. Et si aliquem istorum mori con- 
tingent qui de numero computatur alius Btaiim ponitur loco sui unde 
numerus semper manet. 

^ BoU. primes procedere. 

> Boll. hoM idololatns non modo ab illis qui per me ad fidem Christi eonyer&i 
sunt, eto.t which look a$ if it had been tampered with. 

> Far. 12 taman ; Hak, 18 thumui ; Mut. xiii ; Mare. xiv. 

* Ven., Far. xv tuman; Mare. xy. 

* Mui. ccctl. 

< Ven. Sauday ; Ut. Sanay ; Far. Sandu ; Mu$. Sandu ; Mare. Sandu. 

7 From Dominus yero u omitted by Hah. 

B Far. in modum gradus (in Schellon). > Hak. Sella. 

10 Ut. pellibus. " Hak. hat altissirai (albissimi ?). 

12 Far. Cuthe. 

13 Hak. duo et albissimi. The latter alio in Mm. 

- 1^ Ven, antecedunt. ^ Ut. 1 ; Far. vo ; Hak. xv Thuman . 



APPENDIX I. XXXin 



40. De imperto Magni Canis et de hospitiU in eo, et de modo 

expediendi nova ad Dominum, 

Hoc imperium ipse in zii partes condivisit(?)i qusdlibet quarum 

Sjno* xii Dominatn. Una autem istarum partium est illud Manzi, 

quod sub se habet duo millia magnarum civitatum. Unde tam magnum 

est illud Buum imperium quod [si] unus pedes per quamcumque partem 

ipsiuB Tellet ire in sex* mensibus naberet satis, sine tamen insulis quss 

sunt bene y milia qusd etiam in numerum non ponuntur.^ £t ut trans- 

euntea suis possint necessitatibus subvenire per totum regnum suum 

facit hospicia preparari sicut domos et curtiva quie domus Yam^ vocantur. 

In istis autem domibus sic paratis sunt omnia ilia quss sunt necessaria 

humansB yitsD. Cum autem novitas aliqua in suo babetur imperio 

statim ambaziatores sui ad ipsum super equos velociter currunt. Si 

autem negotium arduum nimis esset et periculosum, super dromedaries 

ipsi ascendunt. £t cum ad ista Tam, scilicet hospicia siye domos, in- 

cipiunt appropinquare, pulsant unum comu, ad cujus sonitum hospes 

illius bospitii unum hominem facit yelociter preparari, cui ille qui ita 

yelociter yenit ad domum illam illam litteram representat quam por- 

tayit '; et sic iste qui nuper yenit ut reficiatur in ilia dome manet. 

Tunc ille qui litteram jam recepit usque ad aliam Tam, scilicet usque 

ad aliam domum, properat festinanter. £t iste secundus eodem modo 

facit quo fecit ille primus. Sic per istum modum in una naturali die 

unum noyum xzz dietarum ille recipit imperator.* Illic etiam alius 

modus mittendi pedites obseryatur. Nam aliqui ordinati cursores in 

domibus quie Chidebo' nominantur assidue commorantur, habentes cin- 

gulum unum circum circa nolarum seu sonaglorum.^ Harum domorum 

una distat ab alia miliaribus forte tribus. Cum autem ad illam domum 

appropinquat istas duas* nolas seu sonaglos incipit pulsare fortiter ac 

yalenter ; tunc autem ille alius qui est in domo se yelociter parat et ad 

domum yadit quam citius ipse potest. Sic et iBto modo, hoc idem et 

alii cursores tenent et obseryant donee deyentum est ad ipsum Magnum 

Oanem unde in imperio suo Inihil] breyiter fieri potest, quin statim yel 

cito multa penitus ipse sciat.** 

A\, De Venatione Magni Canii. 

Cum ille Canis Magnus ad yenandum yadit hunc modum in se habet. 
Nam extra Cambalec ad xx dietas est unum pulcherrimum nemus," yiii>' 
dietarum per circuitum, in quo tot animalium genera sunt diyersa 
quod yalde mirabile est. Circa ipsum nemus positi sunt aliqui pro 
Magno Cane, qui ipsum custodiunt diligenter. In fine autem trium 
yel quatuor annorum ad nemus cum gente sua yadit. Cum autem 
penrenit illic ipse circumdat totum sua gente et in ipsum permittunt 

> Ven, Dominns divisit. 

' Ven, Singo ; not in the other copies collated, except Ut., which hat Signo. 

s Mut, y. 

* All this is much abridged in Hak. ^ Ven. lam. 

* Ven. hat nova dietarum trium only ; Far. hat zxx ; and Hak., Mut, xx; 
Mare. zxx. 7 m, Chidebeo. 

^ Ven. noils, i.e., sonalis plenum ; Mut. cum multis pendentibus sonaliis 
sive nolia. ' Should he snas. 

^ Hak. greatly abridges all this again. 
" Hak. una foresta. '^ Far. ri, also Hak. and Mut. 

d 



XXXIV APPENDIX I. 

canes intrare et aves assuetas post illos emittunt. £t ipsi ad invicem 
press! yadunt reducendo ilia siiTestria ad unam pulcherrimam qusB in 
medio nemoris habetur planiciem, et sic in ea congregatur bestianim 
silTestrium maxima multitude, sicut sunt* leones, cervi, multaque alia 
tam yaria quam diversa, quod ibi yidetur maximus esse stupor. IJnde 
tantus est rumor atque clamor avium et canum quos in illud nemus 
emiserunt quod unus non intelligit alterum ; et cuncta ilia siiTestria 
tremunt clamore illo magno. Dum autem base silrestria sic sant in ilia 
planicie congregata, tunc Magnus Canis ascendit* super tres elephantes, 
et in ilia silvestria quinque sagittas jacit, quas cum ejecerit tota societas 
sua hoc idem similiter facit. Et cum omnes suas jecerunt sagittas, 
quarum qusslibet suum signum habet per quod una ab alia cognos- 
catur, tunc ille imperator magnus yocari facit Syo^ id est immani (?) 
bestiis illis' quas de nemore pepulerunt.* Et statim bestiss illce silrestres 
qu89 ibi y'lYtB sunt demissse intrant nemus. Ad alias autem interfectas 
cuncti barones accedunt accipientes sagittas, quas post illas emiserunt, 
nam eas bene cognoscunt cum iUi inposuerunt sibi signum, unde unus- 
quisque aliud silyestre habet quod sua percussit sagitta. Sic isto modo 
fit venacio sua.* 

42. De quatuor festis qu<E Unet Canis Magmis, 

Quatuor magna festa in anno iste facit imperator ; scilicet, festum 
Circumcisionis, ej usque Nativitatis diem,* et sic de reliquis. Ad htec festa 
conyocat omnes barones hystriones omnesque de su& parentel& qui 
omnes ordinate ponuntur in festo. Maxime autem conyocat omnes istos 
ad duo festa de istis, scilicet, ad festum Circumcisionis et ad festum diei 
Katiyitatis suse. Cum ad aliquod festum istorum sunt isti conyocat!, tunc 
accedunt barones cum coronis in capite ipso, imperatore in sua sede 
residente, sicut superius dictum est ; et omnes barones in locis suis depu- 
tatis ordinate moranfcur. Diversimode autem isti sunt barones yestiti. 
Nam aliqui sunt yestiti de yiridi,' scilicet prim! ; secundi de sanguineo 
sunt induti ; tercii yero de glauco sen zamno^ sunt yestiti. Omnes isti 
sunt in capite coronati, habentes in manu unam tabulam de dentibus 
elephantum albam, et singulos circulos aureos, bene uno semisse altos,' 
stantesque in pedibus et silencium obseryantes. Circa istos morantur 
hystriones cum suis insignis et banderiis. In uno autem angulo cujusdam 
palacii magni manent philosopbi omnes aspicientes et accedentes ad 
certas horas et puncta. Et cum occurrerit punctum yel hora quam 
ipsi philosopbi petunt, unus clamat yalenter et dicit, Debeatis inclinare 
nostro imperator! domino magno. Tunc omnes barones ter de capite 
dant in terra. Deinde ille idem exclamabit dicens, Vos surgite cuncti. 
Et statim ipsi surgunt. Ad alia etiam puncta iterum ipsi attendunt. 
Cum yenit punctum, iterum ille clamabit dicens, Ponite yobis in 
auriculam digitum. Et faciunt. Et tunc statim dicet, Extrahite. Et 
obediunt iteium. Sicque modicum stabunt et dicent, Buratate £urinam :'° 

' Far. boves silvestres ; Ven, ursi. 

^ Ven. has better accedit. 

> Ven. SciOf id est miserioordiam bestiis illis, <S;c. So in Far, Mare. Syon. 

* Far. repulerunt. 

' All much more concise in Hak. and Mus. 

^ Hak. et Mus. coronationis et desponsationis. 

7 Ven. de serico; Ut. de serico yiridi. 

^ Ven, zauno ; Far. kat tertii de croco ; Hak. et Mus. de croceo. 

* Ven. latos. >^ Far. omits this. 



APPENDIX I. XXXV 

nc et mnlta alia signa faciunt ieti qufe magnam significationem dicunt 
importare.^ Delude sunt officiales multi inquirentes et yidentes cunctos 
barones et hystriones, ne aliquis illorum deficiat. Nam si aliquis ibi 
deficeret, magnam incurreret pcenam cum autem occurrit punctum et 
hora istorum hystrionum. Tunc philosophi dicunc facite festum domino. 
Tunc statim omnes incipiunt pulsare omnia instrumenta sua, et tantus est 
ille cantus et clamor quod est quasi stupor unus. Deinde tox una clamat 
dicens, Taceant omnes et sileant ! Sic statim omnes tacebunt.' Post hsec sta- 
tim illi de parentela sunt parati cum equis albis. Exinde vox una clamabit 
dicenSy talis de tali parentela, tot centenaria paret equorum domino suo ! 
Ibique statim aliqui sunt parati, ducentes illos equos per ante domum 
Buum,* ita quod quoddam incredibile est de tot equis albis qui illi domino 
exenniantur. Deinde sunt barones exennia* portantes ex parte aliorum 
baronum, omnes etiam de monast^riis principales ad ipsum accedunt 
cum exenniis et suam benedictionem sibi tenentur dare ; hoc idem facere 
nos omnes.* Hoc facto et ordinate, tunc aliqui hystriones ad ipsum acce- 
dunt,et etiam aliquse hystrionatrices ante ipsum tam dulciter cantant quod 

J[Uflsdam magna jocunditas est audire. Deinde hystriones faciunt venire 
eones qui reverentiam faciunt ipsi imperatori. Deinde hystriones yehi 
iaciunt ciphos aureos per aerem plenos bono vino et ad ora omnium 
Tolentium bibere de isto vino porrigunt istos cyphos. Sic hs&c et multa 
alia coram isto domino fiunt. Dicere autem et referre magnitudinem 
istius domini et ilia quae in curia sua fiunt esset incredibile quoddam nisi 
ista oculis yiderentur. De hoc tamen quod multas expensas facit nemo 
mirari debet, cum nichil aliud pro moneta expendatur in toto suo regno 
quam qusedam cartas* quss pro monetik reputantur ibi, et infinitus Uie* 
laurus ad suas recurrit manus.' 



43. De pepone in quo invenitwr hesiiola ad modum a§ni. 

Aliud insuper mirabile yalde dici potest, quod tamen non yidi sed illud 
a personis fide dignis audiyi. Nam dicitur quod Oaoli" est unum regnum 
magnum in quo sunt montes qui montes Caspei yocantur.* Undo in eis 
ut dicitur nascuntur pepones^ yalde magni qui quando sunt maturi ipsi 
aperiuntur et inyenitur una bestiola ad modum unius agni paryi undo 
ipsi illos pepones habent et illas camiculas qusB sunt ibi." £t quamquam 

^ Hdk. et JfiM. quA scribere nolni quia vana sunt et risu digna. 

3 Ven. omiti thit latt tenUnee ; and Hak. alone addi : Tunc accedunt his- 
trionioes ftote domionm dulciter modnlantes quod mihi plus placuit. 

' So in Ven, with dicentes /or ducentes ; Ut. has dicentes illos equos parasse 
domino suo. 

* £xennia=Xenia. 

^ Ven., Mug. nos fratres minores faoere oportet. The omnes in the test i$ 
probably mieecpiedfor oportet. 

Far. carte oonfectA corticibns morariorum, que, etc. 

7 Far. unde sicnt dixi vo (for y) carte que constitnnnt unum balls, ballis 
UDum florenum cum dimidio. 

^ Far, adds: Cum autem m oritur iste Canis omnes Tartan adorant ipsum 
pro dec. 

* Ven. Cadeli ; Ut. Cadellis ; Far. et Mare. Caoli ; Mu$. Kaloy. 
^ Fen. melonee. 

" Hak. in nno regno istius Canis in quo sunt montes Kapsei et dicitur 
illad regnum Kalor. 
" Far. hat et iliac eamncule pro nobilissimo ferculo reputantur. 

d2 



XXXVl APPENDIX I. 

illud forte aliquibuB incredibile videatur tamen ita potest esse Tenim, 
sicut dicitur quod in hiberni& sunt arbores ayes facientes.* 

44. De regionibtLS diversis. 

Be isto Oataio lecedens* et yeniens yersus occidentem, l.* dietis 
transeundo per multas ciyitates et terras, yeni yersus temm Pretozoan,^ 
de quo non est centesima pars ejus quod quasi pro certo de ipso dicitur. 
Ejus ciyitas principalis Chosan^ yocatur [....] sua ciyitas principalis^ 
multas tamen alias ciyitates sub se habet. 8ed semper pro pacto accipit 
in uxorem filiam magni Canis. Deinde yeni per multas dietas et deyeni 
in unam proyinciam quse yocatur Oasan.^ Ista est secunda melior pro- 
yincia et melius habitata quam aliqua quss sit in mundo ;" ubi autem est 
minus stricta,' bene tamen est lata i dietis, et longa pluribus Iz, unde 
ista proyincia taliter babitatur quod quando ab una porta alicujus 
ciyitatis exitur portse alterius ciyitatis yidentur.^^ In nac est magna 
copia yictualium, maxime autem castaneorum. In hftc autem contratik 
yel proyincift nascitur mains barbarus," cujus tanta copia habetur illic 
quoa unus asinus minori sex grossis ponderaretur. Htec autem proyincia 
est una de xii partibus imperii magni Canis. 

45. Ik regno Tyhoty ubi est Papa ydolatrorum. 

De b&c proyincilk recedens yeni ad unum magnum regnum nomine 
Tybot" quod ipsi Indisa est confine. Totum boc regnum est subjectum 
magno Cani,** et in ipso est major copia panis et yini quam sit in mundo. 
Gens istius contratsB moratur in tentoriis quae ex** feltris sunt facta 
nigris. Tota civitas sua regalis et principalis est facta ex muris** albis 
et nigris, omnesque susb yisa sunt optime scelatSB.*^ In b&c ciyitate 
non audet aliquis effundere sanguinem alicujus bominis yel animalis; 

^ Far, adds Nam in iDibemiS sunt arbores Boper aquam qnanim folia stattm 
ut caduDt in ipsam aquam mutantur in aves. Hak. Sicut audivi quod in 
man Hibernico stant arbores supra ripam maris et portant fmctum sicut 
esseot cucurbitse, qua? certo tempore cadant id aquam et fiont aves Tocatae 
Bemaklea et illud est verum. To which adds Mut.: HoccuilibetHibemicam 
legenti bistoriam satis patet. 

' Hak. post tres annoa. 

* JkftM. dietis pluribus. 

* Fen., ^ar. Pretezoan ; JIf tit. et Haft. Pretegoani; Jf<ire. Pretegianni. 

' Boll, Tozan, qiiSB sola de melioribus est in teri&; Far, Cosan; Hak. et 
Mum. Kosan ; If arc. Chosan. 

* Read a» in Ven, quA tamen Yioencia melior diceretur licet ipsa sit eua 
civitas principalis. 

7 Ven, Chasan; Vt. Cassanj Far, Consan; Mm, Cbosan; Hak, Kasan; 
BoU, Kansan ; Mare, Casan. 

^ Mui. et spissiuB ut dicitur civitatibus omata. 

' So most MSS. But Marc, which has dov' ella k piih stretta seefM hesU 
So also Bam. It should he magis strtota. 

10 Hak, Sicut egomet vidi de multis. 

" Ven, reubarbarum ; Far. as in text ; also Afu«. Mare, reobarbaro. 

>3 Ten. Tibot; Ifut. Tybek; Haik. Tibek ; BoU. Tibet; 3f are. Tibot. 

>3 BoU, coDtiguam est i< Ven. Cabaaro. 

'^ Mus. et Boll, magnis, the latter has not nigris. 

u Mut. ex lapidibus albis et nigris ut scaccaiiam dispositis et curiose com- 
po^itis pulcberrime est murata. Hak. to like effect. 

>7 Ven, Sillexate; Far, Salizate; Mus, et Hak, pavati; Afarc. has mat- 
tonate in ItaUan, 



APPENDIX I. XXXVU 

Et hoc ob reverentiam unius ydoli quod ibi colitur et adoratur. In istik 
civitate moratur Lo Abassi/ id est Papa in lingu& suk Iste est caput 
omnium ydolatrorum,' quibus dat et distribuit secundum morem suum 
omnia ilia beneficia qura ipsi habent. Hoc regnum banc consuetudinem 
habet. Kam mulieres portant plus quam centum tricas seu dresas, 
babentes duos dentes ita longos* sicut nabent apri sive porci silyestres. 
Hbsc etiam alia consuetude babetur in b&c contraUL Nam pouatur 
quod pater alicujus moriatur, et tunc filius ipse sic dicet, Yolo honorare 
patrem meum. Undo faciet convocari omnes sacerdotes, religiosos, om- 
nesque bjstriones de contrat& vicinos, similiter et parentes, qui ad cam- 
paneam^ ipsum portant cum gaudio magno, ubi habent paratum unum 
discum magnum super quo ipsi sacerdotes sibi caput amputabunt, quod 
postea filio suo ipsi dabunt. Deinde ejus filius cum sua tota societate 
cantat et pro eo multas orationes facit. Ezinde sacerdotes totum 
corpus ejus incidunt in frusta quod cum sic fecerunt tunc sursum se 
reducunt cum societate pro eo orationes facientes. Post hsdc veniunt 
aquilsD et yultures de montibus et sic unusquisque suum frustum 
accipit et asportat. Deinde omnes alt& voce clamant dicentes : Audias* 
qualis homo iste fuit quia ipse sanctus est ; nam veniunt angeli Dei et 
ipsum portant ad paradisum! Sic isto modo faciendo filius ejus multum 
reputat se honoratum. Gum pater ejus ab angelis Dei, sillcet, ab avibus 
illis ita honorifice sit portatus, tunc statim filius caput patris accipit, 
quod coquit et comedit. De testll autem* seu osse capitis sibi fieri facit 
unum ciphum cum quo ipse et omnes de domo sua semper cum devotione 
bibunt, et in memoriam patris sui defuncti/ Kam sic faciendo, ut 
dicunt, reverentiam magnam ezhibent patri suo ; unde multa alia in- 
consueta et dissoluta fiunt ab istis." 

46. De DivUe qui pascitur a l Vir^inibtts, 

Dum autem essem in prozincia Manzi veni per juxta pedem palacii 
cujusdam hominis popularis cujus vita per hunc babetur modum. Ipse 
enim habet l^ domicellas virgines sibi continue servientes. Et cum 
vadit ad comedendum et in mensa jam sedet omnia fercula quaterna et 
quintema^^ sibi portantur ab ipsis cum diversis cantibus et multis gene- 
ribus musicorum, et sibi cibum in os ponunt sicut si esset unus pas- 
serinus" et insuper ante ejus conspectum continue cantatur, donee 
omnia fercula sunt coraesta. Deinde alia quinque fercula ab aliis por- 
tantur et recedentibus istis primis cum aliis multis cantibus et diversis 
generibus musicorum. 8ic isto modo ducit vitam suam dum est in 
mundo,!* hie xxz tuman tagarU risi de redditu habet, quorum <^uodlibet 
tuman x milia facit ; unum autem tagar pondus est uniuB asini magni. 

^ Ven. the same ; UL lo albafi ; Far,, Mut, et Hak, abassi ; Boll, abbassi ; 
Mare, lo abiss. 

' Jfttf. et Hak. sicut noster papa est caput omnium Christianomm. 

3 Ven., Far. et Mus. in ore ; Far. sicut habent poroi. 

* Mut. et Hak. campum. 

' Videatis. ^ Mut. id est de orep& (?) 

7 Hak. with a totieh of humour hat oomesti. 

^ Hak, Et multa villa et abhominabilia facit gens ilia qu8B non soribo, quia 
noD valent, nee homines orederent nisi viderent. 

^ Far. 40. ^ Far. quintema et qaintema. 

^ Ven, avicola qusedam ; Hak, pasoentes oum sicut avis aviculas, et habet 
semper 5 fercula triplioata, etc. 

'' Ven, donee vixerit vitam suam ; Mut, et sic boo modo ducit in hoc seeulo 
vitam suam. 



XXXVIU APPENDIX I. 

Ourtiyum palatii sui per duo miliaria tenet ; palatium autem illud in quo 
ipse morator est factum per istum modum ; nam payimentum* ipsiua 
unum laterem habet de auro alterum de argento. In curtiTo ittius 
palatii factus est unus monticulus de auro et argento, super quo facta 
sunt etiam monasteria et campanilia, ut homines fieri faciunt pro 
delectacionibus suis. Unde dicitur quod qoatuor tales homines qualis 
iste est sunt in regno ipsius' Manzi. Nobilitas vero ipsius est habere 
ungues longas, et in tantum aliqui crescere permittunt ungues poUicis^ 
quod cum ipsis circumdant sibi manus. Pulchritude autem mulierum 
est panros habere pedes. (Jnde banc consuetudinem habent matres 
illarum mulierum, nam quando eis nascuntur aliqusB puellie sibi ligant 
pedes quos nunquam crescere Tel modicum dimittunt illis. 

47. De niofie Senis de Monte. 

Bum autem recederem de terris Pretezoan,' veniens versus occidentem 
applicui ad quamdam contratam quse Millestorte* nominatur. Hsbc 
contrata pulchra est et multum fertUis.* In hac contrata unus erat qui 
▼ocabatur Senex a Monte, qui inter duos montes contratss hujus unum 
fecerat murum, qui istum circumdabat montem. Infra istum murum 
pulchriores erant fontes qui unquam possent reperiri. Apud istos 
fontes positie erant pulchriores domicelln yirgines qusB unquam possent 
reperiri, equi pulcherrimi, omneque illud quod pro ali& delectatione 
alicui humane corpori poterat inveniri ; unde hunc locum Tocabant 
paradisum. Cum autem juvenem valoris aliquem ipse yidebat in i8t& 
su& paradise ipsum poni faciebat* per quosdam autem conductus yinum 
et lac illuc descendere faciebat.' £t cum volebat facere sicari, id est 
assaxinari, aliquem regem vel baronem, ilium qui preerat illi paradiso 
petere faciebat, ut aliquem inveniret qui magis esset aptus delectari in 
ista sua paradiso, et morari. Iste autem talis dum sic esset inyentus et ibi 
positus esset, ei potacionem unam dari faciebat quae ipsum statim sopiebat. 
Tunc ipsum taliter dormientem de paradise extrahi faciebat. Qui cum 
excitabatur et extra paradisum se yidebat in tant& erat positus agonia 
quod quid ageret penitus nesciebat. Quare ilium Senem a monte rogabat 
constanter ut eum in illam reduceret paradisum in qua prius positus 
erat. Tunc senex ille dicebat, Tu illic ire non potes ni talem regem 
interficias yel baronem. Unde seu moriaris siye non, te in ista ponam 
paradise. Et quia iste sic delectabatur morari paradise, per eum sicari 

^ Mu8, aulae in qua ipse infra Ulud palatium moratar. 

2 Ven, ip«o. • Ven, Preteian. 

« Ven. MiDistorte; Ut. Millistorte; Mat. Melesoorte; Hak. Milestorite; 
Mare. Milestorte. 

A Mut. atque fortis. 

* This should come before cum autem juvenem, at in Ven. 

7 Far. here hcu a considerable diversity from the rest : — Per huno modum ; 
nam nullas erat in ouri& 8U& prieter pauoos secretarios suos qui yehtatem 
delusionis sciret de hoc sue paradiso. Unde aocipi faciebat juvenes fortes 
corpore et ipsos poni faoiebat in stallis ubi morantur eques (equi) et ibidem 
yivere miserrime faciebat. £t faoiebat eos de spreto habitu indui et nuu- 
qnam de illis stallis exibant. Itaqae quasi nesoiebant quod essent mundi 
blanditie, et quasi desperabantur. Cam autem sic erant afflicti faciebat eis 
nnam potationem dari quie eos fortissimo soporabat (sic\ et tunc ponebat illos 
in hoc paradiso inter illas puellas ; per quosdam autem conductas, etc. Hak. 
has Iste senex cam volaerit sibi vindicare vel interfeoere regem aliquem vel 
Baronem, dicit illi qui preeerat illi Paradiso ut aliquam de nofcis illius regis 
yel Baronis introduceret in Paradisum ilium, et ilium deliciis frui permiueret, 
et tunc daret sibi potionem, etc. Mus. has the same a little more diffusely. 



Al'i'ENDlX I. XXXIX 

id est assazinare faeiebat onuies illos quos volebat. Ideoque omnes 
reges orientis timebant istum senem sibique tributum magnum ezhibe- 
bant. Gum autem Tartar! quasi totum cepissent mundum,* yenerunt 
ad istum senem ; cui finaliter dominium acceperunt. Quod cum ei 
sic fuisset acceptum multos de istis hiis sicariis emissit de paradiso per 
quos sicari et interfici faeiebat multos Tartarorum. Hoc videntes ipsi 
Tartari ad illam civitatem, in qud. sonez iste erat venerunt et eam obse- 
derunt ; cum ab e& non discesserint donee illam et ipsum senem finaliter 
habuerunt £t cum eum ceperunt yinculis eum yinzerunt et malam 
mortem ilium sustinere fecerunt. 

48. De demanibus afratribus Minoribus expvhis. 

In h&c autem contratd. Omnipoteus Deus fratribus minoribus banc 
dedit gratiam magnam.' Nam in magnU Tartaric ita pro nichilo habent 
ezpellere demones ab obsessis, sicut de dome ezpellerent unum canem. 
Unde multi homines et mulieres a demone sunt obsessi, quos ligatos 
bene de z dietis ipsi ad fratres nostros conducunt. Isti autem de- 
moniaci cum adducti sunt ad fratres, ipsi ez parte et nomine Jhesu 
Christi precipiunt demonibus illis ut ezire debeaut de illis corporibus 
obsessorum quam citius ipsi possunt. Tunc statim mandate facto ezeunt 
ab illis. Deinde qui sunt h, demone libera ti se statim faciunt baptizari.' 
Tunc fratres ilia sua ydola de feltro accipientes quss ipsi habent cum 
cruce et aqu& benedicti ilia portant ad ignem. Deinde omnes de con- 
trata yeniunt yidere comburi deos suorum yicinorum. Tunc fratres ista 
ydola accipientes ilia ponunt in ignem et tunc ilia de igne ezeunt ;* 
propter quod fratres postea de aqua accipiunt benedicta quam in ignem 
projiciunt et statim demon fugit ab igne,^ et sic fratres in ignem 
jdolum projiciunt ibique conburitur, et tunc demon clamat in aere, 
dicens ;* Videas ! yideas ! quod de mea habitatione sum ezpulsus ! £t sic 
statim per istum modum nostri fratres multos in ill& contrat& baptizant.' 

49. De voile quddam in qud terribilia vidit Fr. Odorums, 

Aliud terribile magnum ego yidi. Nam cum irem per unam yallem 
qu8Q [est] posita super flumen deliciarum, in ea multa et innumerabilia 
corpora mortuorum ego yidi, in qu& etiam audiyi diyersa genera musi- 
corum, mazime autem Achara,^ quae ibi mirabiliter pulsabantur. Unde 
tantus erat ibi clamor, quod timer michi mazimus incumbebat. Heec 
autem yallis forte longa est yii yel yiii miliaribus terrse, in qui, si 
aliquis infidelium intrat nunquam de ilia ezit, sed statim moritur sine 

' Ven. Oriens. 

' BolL contra immundos spiritus magnam oontulit potestatem. 

> Uak. et idola sua et pecorum suoram statim dant fratribus, qusa sunt 
communiter de feltro et de crinibns mulierum. 

* BolL frequenter agente diabolo prosiliunt eztra ignem. 

^ Hak. demones in effigie fnmi nigerrimi fagerunt et idola remanserunt et 
oombusta sunt. 

< BoU, Indignatus ergo Sathanas cum snis, quia yasa diu possessa amisit, 
in aere vociferat dicens, Videre qualiter de meo habitaoulo cum injuria sum ez- 
pulsus, etc. 

7 Instead of this, Hak. has an nnintelligible sentence meant for the follow- 
ing as found in Mm. ...baptizant, qui cito ad ydola et errores saos multodens 
recederent nisi fratres semper cum illis stent ad illos in fide Christi continue 
eonflrmandos. 

B Fm., Far. Nachara ; Hak. hat Mazime de oytharia unde roultum timui ; 
Mat. the like. 



xl APPENDIX I. 

mora.' Et quamquam in ilia sic omnes moriantar, tamen Tolui intrare 
ut Tiderem finaliter quid hoc esset. Dum sic autem yallem e^ in- 
trassem, ut jam dixi, tot corpora mortua ibi Tidi quod nisi aliquis ill& 
▼idisset quasi sibi incredibile yideretur. In hac etiam yalle ab uno 
latere ejus in ipso saxo unam faciem hominis yalde* terribilem ego vidi, 
qu8B in tantum terribilis erat quod prsB nimio timore spiritum me per- 
dere penitus credebam.' Qua propter* tbrbum cabo factum est con- 
tinue meo ore proferebam. Ad ipsam faciem nunquam fui ausus tot&Iiter 
appropinquare sed ab ipsa vii vel viii passibus distans ego fuL Cunx 
autem illic accedere non auderem, ad allud caput yallis ego ivi* et tunc 
ascendi super unum montem arenosum, in quo undique circumspiciena 
nichil videbam preter ilia achara* cjuib pulsari mirabiliter auaiet>am. 
Cum autem in capite mentis ego fiii illic, argentum reperi in maxima 
quantitate, ibi, quasi squamss piscium, congregatum de quo posui in 
gremio meo/ £t quia de ipso non curabam" illud totaliter in terram 
projeci. Et sic dante Deo inde illsesus ezivi. Deinde omnes Sarraceni 
cum hoc sciyerunt reverebantur me multum, dicentes me esse baptizatam 
et sanctum ; illos autem qui erant mortui in ilia yalle dicebant esse 
homines demonis infemalis.* 

50. Vnum refert de magno Cane Fr, Odaricue,^* 

Unum referam de magno Oane quod yidi. Consuetude est in illis 
partibus quod quando pnedictus dominus per aliquam contratam transit, 

> Hah, Et ideo omnes de contrata deolioant a latere. Et tentatus eram 
intrare et videre quid hoo esset, and so on, telling the $ame ttoty, but in words 
generally quite different; Mus. agrees as usual with Hak,y but expresses things 
a little more wordily. ' Ven, Maximum et terribilem. 

> Videbam. ^ Ven, Cum signo orucis. 

* Ven. simply lyi tandem ad aliud capat vallis. 

* Ven, nihil videbam nisi quod audiebam Nachera ilia pulsare ; Hah, nihil 
yidi nisi cytharas illas, etc. ; Mus, h€U the like. 

7 Hak. adds pro mirabili ostendendo, sed ductus oonsoientiA in terram 
projeci nihil mecum reservans, etc. 
^ Ven. et timens etiam ne tali illusione forte mibi denegare exitns. 

* Hak. demonnm infemalium qui palsant cytharas ut homines alliciant in- 
trare et interficiant. Heo de viais certitadinaliter ego Fr. Odorions hie in- 
scripsi ; et multa mirabilia omisi ponere quia homines non orediderint nisi 
vidissent. 

^ Here occurs one of the marked differences in the copies. For at this place 
the copies Far. and Boll, conclude Odoric*s narrative and introduce his attes- 
tation of veracity. Ego Frater Odorioaa, etc., €ls below. After this they add an 
appendix, (u it were : Notaodum quod ego frater Marchesinas de Basaano de 
ordine Minomm ista andivi a fratre Odorico predicto, ipso adhuo yivente, 
nam plura audivi qase ipse non scripsit. Inter alia qnie ipse looutus est hoo 
quoque dixit. Nam dixit quod semel dum Canis Magnus iret in Cambalec 
[de] Sandu ipse frater Odoricus erat cum iiiior fratribus minoribus sub una 
arbore que plantata erat juxta yiam per quam ipsnm Canem transitum facere 
oportebat. Unns autem istorum fratrum erat episcopus. Cum autem iste 
Canis coBpit appropinquare iste episcopus induit se habitu episcopali, et ac- 
cepit crucem et posnit eam in fusto, et tunc isti iiiior fratres inoepemnt altd 
yoce cantare ymnum Veni creator spiritus. Et tunc Canis Magnus hoc 
audito rumore interrogavit quid hoc esset. Turn illi iiiior barones qui erant 
juxta eum dixemnt quod erant iiiior Rabani Franchi. Tanc ipse Canis fecit 
eos ad se accedere. Ille autem episcopus accept4 cruce de fasto tradidit eam 
osculandam ipso Magno Cani. Ipse yero jacebat, et statim yisft oruce erexit 
se in sedendo, et deposito galerio de capite crucem fait devote et humillime 
osculatus. Iste autem Dominus unam consuetudinem habet. Kara nullus 






APPENDIX I. Xli 

omnea homines ante hospicia* suorum domorum igne accendunt et 
aromata apponunt ac faciunt fumum, ut domino suo transeunti odorem 

^ emittant. Et multi homines obviam sibi vadunt. Dum autem semel' 
Yeniret in Cambalec et de adventu suo certitudinaliter diceretur, unus 
noster episcopus et aliqui nostri fratres minores et ego ivimus sibi 
obviam bene per duas dietas. £t dum appropinquavimus ad eum posui* 
r crucem super lignum, ita quod pubhce videri poterat. Ego vero 

f^ ■ habebam in manu thuribulum quod mecum detuleram. £t incepimus 
cantare alta voce, dicentes Yeni Creator Spiritub, etc. Et dum sic 
cantaremus audivit voces nostras nosque vocari fecit et ad eum accedere 






no 

L 



1. I 
I 



IC 



1 



^' I nos jussit. Cum superius alias dictum sit, nulius audet currui suo 
appropinquare ad jactum lapidis nisi vocatus exceptis custodientibus 
eum. £t dum ivissemus ad eum cruce elevatft, deposuit statim galerium 
suum sive capellum inestimabilis quasi valoris, et fecit reverentiam ipsi 
cruci. Statimque in thuribulum quod habebam incensum reposui, et 
episcopus noster de manu me& accepit, eumque thurificavit. Accedentes 
ad predictum dominum semper aliquid ad offerendum secum deferunt, 
observantes illam legem antiquam, Noir apparebis in oonbpeotu mbo 
VACUUS. Idcirco portavimus nobiscum aliqua poma [et ea] sibi super 
unum incisorium reverenter obtulimus. Et ipse duo accepit de ipsis 
pomis, et de uno aliquantulum comedit. Et deinde predictus episcopus 
noster ei benedictionem suam impendit. Et hoc facto nobis innuit ut 
recederemus ne equi post ipsum venientes et multitude in aliquo nos 
offenderent. Statim vero ab eo discessimus et divertimus, et ad aliquos 
barones sues per fratres nostri ordinis ad fidem converses ivimus, qui in 
ezercitu ejus erant. Et obtulimus els de predictis pomis. Qui cum 
mazimo gaudio ipsa recipientes, ita videbantur Icetari, ac si illis pre- 
buissemus familiariter magnum munus. 

51. Testimonium perhibet Fr. Odaricus, 
Ego frater Odoricus Boemus^ de foro Julii provinciso sancti Antonii de 

andet in conspeotu suo vacans apparere, unde ipse Fr. Odoricus habens 
unum parvum calathum plenum pomis ipsi magno Cani feoit exenium. 
Ipse autem Canis accepit duo poma unum quorum medietatem oomedit, 
aliud vero in manibuH ipse gestabat et sio inde reoessit. Ex quo satis ap- 
paret quod ipse Canis aliquid habuit in fide nostri, propter Fratres Mino- 
res qui continue in sua ouri& commorantur, cum deposuerit galerium et fe- 
cerit tarn devote hano reverentiam ipsi cruoi ; quod galerium secundum 
quod audivi a fratre Odorico plus valet quam tota Marchia Trevisana, prop- 
ter perlas quae sunt ibi et lapides preciosas. The preceding it given by the 
Bollandittt after H. de Olatz in the tltme manner with slightly different lan- 
guage. The following i$ omitted by Boll., but ii added to the above in the 
Farsetti MS,, and as far at I have teen, appeart in no other: Preterea unum 
aliud audivi ab eo. Nam dixit quod semel la anno Magnus Canis mittit unum 
de Tartans suis ad Soldanum BabillouiaB, quem recepit cum magno timore. 
Et die constitute Soldanus stat super unius parvi rivuli ripam et Tartarus 
Stat in alia ripa cum arcu in manu teuso et cum sagitt& fortissime venenata. 
Stat Soldanus genibus flexis et manibus canoellatis, nihil breviter habens in 
CBpite nee in dorso preter interulam. Quem iste Tartarus crudeliter multum 
aUoquens, ter interrogat, dicens : Confiteris tu quod habeas vitam pro Magno 
Cane, et quod sis servus ejus. Soldanus autem respondet cum magno timore 
quod sic Alioquin statim ilium interfioeret. Hoc autem Canis in signam 
suiB potentiee fieri facit: prsaterea nee arbitror oblivioni mandandum. 

1 Ven. hostia (Le., ostia). ' Ven. qu&dam vice. > Ven, posuimus. 

* This addition to Odoric's description of himself oocors in no other copy 
that I have seen, Latin or Italian. 



xlii APPENDIX I. 

quiUlam teri& qun dicitur Portus Maonis,^ de ordine fratrum minorum, 
testificor et testimoDiam perhibeo Reverendo Patri fratri Guidotto 
ministro antedictie proTiDcin sancti Antonii in Marchia Treyissina, cum 
ab eo fuerim per obedientiam requisituB quod hsoc omnia qune superius 
scripta sunt, aut propriis oculis yidi aut ab hominibus fide dignis audivi ; 
communis etiam locutio illarum contratarum ilia quae non yidi testatur 
esse yera.' Multa etiam alia ego dimisi qun scribi non feci, cum ipsa 
quasi incredibilia apud aliquos yiderentur nisi ilia propriis oculis con- 
spexissent. Ego autem de die in diem me prepare ad illas contratas 
accedere, in quibus dispone me mori ut illi placebit a quo cuncta bona 
procedunt/ Prssdicta autem fideliter frater Guillelmus de Solagna in 
Bcriptis redegit sicut preedictus frater Odorius Boemus ore proprio ex- 
primebat, anno Domini m.cco.xxx* mense Mail Paduse in loco Sancti 
Antonii. Nee curayit de latino difficili et curioso ac om&to, sed sicut 
ille narrabat sic iste scribebat, ad hoc ut omnes facilius intelligerent qus 
dicuntur, etc.* 

[ This it the end of the Parisian MS.y No. 2584. The following 

condition is from MS. Fah.] 

52. De morte frairis OdoricL 

Ipse Beatus Frater Odoricus cum de ultramarinis partibus ad suam 
proylnciam remeasset, marchiam scilicet Treyisanam, presenti&m summi 
rontificis adire yolebat, ut ab eo licentiam peteret per [ut] L fratres, 
de qu&cumque proyincift essent dummodo ire yellent, secum ducere 
posset, recessit de Foro Julii unde ipse natus est. Dum esset Pisis srayi 
infirmitate correptus, quamobrem compulsus est ad propriam [pro- 
ylnciam] remeare. Quapropter in utino de Foro Julii ciyitate, anno 
ab incarnatione Domini moccxxxi, pridie idus Januarii de hoc mundo 
triumphans peryenit ad gloriam beatorum. Ubi yirtutibos et miraculis 
quam plurimis coruscat. Nam per eum cseci, claudi, muti, surdi sunt 
salatiy permittente Domino, restituti. Deo gratias. Amen. 

« 
1 Ven, correctly Naonis ; Hah. Vafaonis ; Mm, Nahomonis. 
' Ven, Quffi etiam crones illarum partinm coromuniter testabantur. 

* Hah, incorrectly Multa etiam alia ego dimisissem nisi ilia propriis oculis 
ooospexissem. 

* These last words are not in Venni, nor in Ut. 

* In Ut. this runs as tpritten by William in the first perton — Ego Fr. 
Galielmus...redegi...nec ourayi de La|iDo diffioili et oroato stilo, sed siont 
ille narrabat ego scribebam oum domesUoo eloquio et oommuni ad hoe ut 
omnes facilias intelligerent qne hie scribuntnr, yel in isto libro dicuntnr. 

< Hak. and Mus. relate the name at greater lengthy with addition of visions 
ete.t and end by qtu>ting the attctttUion of the notary Ouetellus to the detail oj 
OdorifM vdracles^ vohich has been mentioned in the biographical notice pre^ 
fixed to his Itinerary. Boll, has substantially the conclusion that is in the 
texty adding to the mention of the miracles : Hoc testatns est litteris suis in 
curift Papee Patriarcha Aqaileiensis in oqjas dicscesi hsc fiant. Et protestatur 
Styria et Carinthia et multi de Italia et regiones quam plorime cirouroquaque. 
And then: Ego Fr. Henrions diotus de Glatz, qui prssdicta omnia transoripsi 
existens Avenione in curii D*oi. Pape anno D'ni. supradioto, si non intellexia- 
sem ibidem de felice Fr. Odorico et sociis qoi seoum fuerant, tot perfectiones 
et sanctitatis ejns opera, yix aliquibus hie per eum desoriptis oredere potuis- 
sem: Sed ooegit me yitsd sue yeritas dictis ejus fidem eredulam adhibere. 
Scripsi autem hso anno D'ni. treoentisimo qnadragesimo in Prag& oiroa fes- 
turn omnium Sanctorum, et copiosius ea audieram in Ayenione. 



APPENDIX II. 



OLD ITALIAN TEXT OP ODORIC, PROM A MS. IN 
THE BIBLIOTECA PALATINA AT PLORENCE. 



INCOMINCIA LA 8T0RIA DI FRATE ODORIGO. 

1. Viaggio di Trebuonda e ddl Erminia Maggiore, 

[In questo anno eorrente dd uoooxviii divotamenU prego U mio 
Signore Iddio ehe porga ted lume al mio inUUetto ehe io possa in ttUto o 
in parte rammemorare le maravigliose cose da me viste con questi oechi : 
alle quedi perche maravigliose siano, non percio se gli deve aver miiior 
fede^ poscid ehe appresso Iddio niuna cosa e impossibile. Voglio dunque, 
a coloro ehe quests cose ehe io diro vedute non hannoy quanto meglio 
potro, brevemente serivendo dimostrarle. E giuro per quecl Iddio ehe in 
mio aiuto ho chiamato, in questa narrations non dovere io dire ns meno 
ne via di quel ehe in varie parti del tnondo camminando ho viste.\ 

Anno Domini mcccxyiii io frate Odorigo' da Friolli de Tordine de* 
frati minori della provincia di Padova [nd mess d* Aprils, con buona 
licsma del mio superiors], partimi de la detta provincia e [navigando con 
Vajuto di Dio s buon vento*] yeni in Qostantinopoli con altri miei com- 
pagni, 6 di quindi passai ii mare Maggiore e veni in Trebisonda nella 
contrada detta metropoUi di Ponto nella qual terra giace 11 corpo del 
beato Atanasio ehe fece 11 simbolo. £ [inj questa terra yidi una mirabil 
cosa^ eh' uno^ ehe menaya piil di dumilia pemici* le quali il Beguitayano 
per mirabile modo ; perch! sempre andayano e yolayano e stayan con 
lui per pid di, e ubidielo, e parean quasi ehe parbissono con lui nella 
lingua sua.' £ quando andayano Io 'mperadore prendea delle pernici 
quante yolea, e Taltre se ne yenieno co lui infino al castello ehe si chiama 
2ayengha. 

^ From MiM. Rah. ' Min. Ram. di Porto Maggiore. 

* Min. Ram. quale tanto pin osero di dirla, quanto ehe molti oon qaali ho 
parlato in Veoezia, m' hanno referita d'haver vista simil cosa. 

^ Min. Ram. un uomo barbnto e di ferooe aspetto. 

* Min. Bam. a qnella gaisa ohe menano i pastori loro armenti. 

* Min. Ram. Quale perdiei volando e andando yia le meno a donare all' 
imperadore di ConstantinopoU. 

^ Min. Ram. Zanicoo. 



zliv APPENDIX II. 

lDd(^ maraviffliajidomi fortemente udi da eoloro che sarMe egli per 
far altre prove via maraviglioM di queste ; fra U quale fu queeta^ ehe 
ungiomo estendo itato amazzato un earo efiddistimofameglxo delV impe- 
radore^ e non trovaiidoei il malfattort, nefu queeto barhtUo daW impera- 
dore eon istama prtgalo^ ehe con qualche via to ecopriue. Jl quale faUo 
portare U giovane morto nd mezzo ddla piazza tutto intanguinatOy in 
presenza di moUa gente, eeongiurando con li «icot incanleemi, gli meue 
in bocea una ereeeia piecola di fior di farina, II quale non ei presto 
habbe in bocea la creecia^ ehe n rizzo inpiedi e disee chi Chaveva anuuaatOy 
eperche eagione : eeio detto ricadde eiibito morto.y 

£>i Trebisonda aiuUi a Zangha, ch* k castello de lo *mperadore, e 
quivi si cava Targento* 6 '1 cristallo, secondo che si dice. Quindi andai 
in Erminia Maggiore, e pervenni ad Anelone, ch* d presso d'una gior- 
nata al fiume del Paradise detto d'Eufrates. In questa tena una gran 
donna lascid in testamento che de' beni suoi si facessoro un munistero 
di meretrici al servigio degU uomini in ogni carnality per Panima sua 
maladeta.* Di quindi yeni al monte ot' ^ TArca Nod, e yolentieri sarei 
salito alia cima del monte ayegnache mai non si troyaya chi yi potesse 
salire, ma perchd non yoUe aspettare la caroyanna non yolii proyarmene. 
II monte e altissimo e bellissimo, e quasi ya la neye insino a la tersa 
parte del monte.* 

2. DeSe cittade di Taurisio e di Soldania. 

Poi yeni* in Persia nella citade ch' d detta Taurisio, e *n quella yia 
passai il fiume Rosso, oye Alessandro isconfisse il Re d'Asia Dario, e in. 
quella cittade noi abbiamo due luoghi : h nella cittade ( ?) mirabile 
moltitudine, e di mercatanti molti, oye h uno monte di sale, del quale 
pud prendere chi ye ne yuole/ Di quindi yeni in Soldania oy' h la 
sedia dello Re di Persia, nella quale k un luogo de' Frati Predicatori, e 
uno de' Frati Minori. 

3. Delia cittade de* tre Magi, e dd Mare Sabuloeo. 

Di qaindi yenni in Saba cittade e terra della quale furono i ire 
Magi. E tutti i Saracini che dimorano iyi dicono che i Magi furono 
di quella terra ch' d cittade grande e ben sicura ; ma ora d molta diserta. 
Ed d di lunge da Gerusaleme ben sessanta giornate. Di quindi per- 
yenimo al mare Sabuloso,^ ciod il mare della rena, oy' io isteti quatro di 
nel porto.* E la carroyana non fu ardita d'entrare nel Sabulo, ch' d una 
rena secca, che si muoye al modo del mare della tempesta del yento ; che 
Be alcuno allora y'entrasse incontinente sarebbe ricoperto e affogato. 

1 The MfN. Ram. hat di Constantinopoli, which is probably an interpolation. 
3 From MiN. Ram. > Min. Ram. roricaloo. 

* This extraordinary ptory is given more diffusely in Mm. Ram. It is in 
no Latin MS. that I know of. 

' MiK. Ram. hat — perche il monte e santissimo e oltre eio inacoessibile per 
I'altissima neve che vi sta tutto I'anno, e piglia almeno le doe parti del monte. 

' Min. Ram. hat abturdly navigammo e venimmo. 

7 Min. Ram. hcu another ignorant interpolation^ e gia se n' erano carohe 
navi e mandato dove ne era oarestia. 

" Min. Ram. Sabbionoso. It it Sabuoso in the Palatine ; I have interted 
the 1, at it oecurt below. 

* Id. E ci convenne star oolla caravana in porto ben quattro giorni. E non 
fu niuno di noi che ardisse di entrar in questo loco. 



APPENDIX II. xlv 

Qy' 10 Tidi monti altissimi di rena i quali in poco tempo si disfanno e 
altri in poco tempo si rifanno.* Di quindi perrenni a una cittade 
grande ch' h chiamata Geste, la quale h ultima terra di Persia verso V 
India ; nella quale terra h grande abondanza di grano e di fichi, e uve 
paserine' molto buone, e sono Terdi come erba e saporitissime. E di 
quindi entrai in Caldea, nella quale contrada vanno gli uomini omati al 
modo delle donne della nostra contrada, e portano in capo cufie ornate 
di pietre e d'oro e di preziose cose ; ma le femine per contrario vanno 
maf vestite con camice corte insino a ginocchio, e scalze, e le maniche si 
larghe che toccano infino in terra,' e portano eziandio le brache lunghe 
insino in terra, e 'n capo un poco di panno corto quasi un mezo braccio ; 
e capelli non sono legati. Quivi yidi uno giovane che dovea prender 
moglie. Quando venne il tempo de lo sposare, tut.te le fanciulle vergini 
della contrada istavan con lei e piangeano, ma lo isposo istava omato 
con yestimenti preziosi/ il quale cavalcoe sopra un asino, e la moglie gli 
and6 dietro a piede, mal vestita e scalza.^ 11 padre della fanciulla gli 
diede la benedizione, e in quel modo si maritano quivi le fanciulle.* 
Di quindi dopo molte terre veni a la terra di Giobo. E ottimamente 
sicura e feitile, e gli uomini de la contrada mi narraro la storia di 
Oiobo. Quivi gli uomini filano e non le femmine. 

4. Delia Torre di Bahel; et della cittade Ormes, 

Pi quindi veni a la tore di Babel presso a quattro giornate per solve 
di datterlove non avemo che man glare niente altro che datteri ; e Taque 
di quindi son salse e poche ven* avea. E per questa sel?a atidai ben 
quatordici giornate e volentieri sarei ito a la torre, ma nonne avea com- 
pagnia e perd lasciai di non irvi. Poi venimmo a Ormes ch* h comincia- 
mento de V India ed d in capo del mare la quale terra h in un isola ed d 
dilunge a terra ferma ben cinque miglia: in su la quale non nasce 
albore e non v*ha aqua dolce ed h citta molto bella, e ben murata. 
Quivi ae si grande abondanza di datteri che per tre soldi n*arebe altri 
quantunque e ne potesse portare. Ed eziandio v* h grande abondanza 
ai pane e di pesce e di came ma non k terra sana. [E] pericolosa, e 
incredibile di calura. E gli uomini e le femmine son tutti grand!. B 
passando io quivi fu morto uno, e venirvi tutti i giulari della con- 
trada, e puosollo nel mezzo della casa nel' letto ; e due femmine 
saltavano intomo al morto, e giulari sonavano cemboli ed altri istor- 
mentL Poi due femmine abbracciavano il morto, e lodavallo, e V altre 
femmine si levavano ritte, e ciascima tenea un canello in boca e zufo- 

^ MiM. Ram. £ si muta a quella gnisa che fa il mare quando h in tempesta, 
por qai por 11, e fa nel muoversi I'iRtesso ondegiai che fa il mare, in guisa tale che 
un infinita di persone a'e troTata, camminando per viaggio, oppressa e som- 
mersa e coverta da queste arene, le quali dal vento dibattnte e trasportate, 
por fanno come monte in un loco, e por in un altro, secondo la forza del vento 
da eui sono elle agitate. 

' For passoline. Min. Ram. hat d' nva passa grossiBsima, tDhieh last word it 
another interpolation, at the Pertian raitint are very tmall, a fact nottd in 
the bett Latin MS8. 

* Min. Ram. after ginocchio hat con bracfaezze e legazze che pendono in 
sino al coUo del piede. 

* Min. Ram. stando il giovane sposo con la testa bassa e leggiadressima- 
mente vestito. 

* Id. toocando I'asino. 

< Here the Mm. Ram. and the Palat. ceau to rvn parallel. The former 
pattet at once to the traveUer't arrival at Tana. 



xlvi APPENDIX II. 

laTa ; e quando avea zafolato, ed ella si ponea a sedere, e eosi feeero per 
iutta la no tie. E la matina il portaro al sepolcro. 

5. Paua il Fr, Odorico alia Tana d* India, 

Di quindi oavicammo per lo mare oceano yenti otto d) ; poi perre- 
nimmo Id Tana, la quale fu cittade del Re Porro ; la quale terra ^ 
posta in buon luogo, ed a grande abondanza di Tittuaglia, e speaial- 
mente di burro, di tusuan [sisamo 7^, e riso. Quivi sono molti divers! 
animali, leoni neri, e pipistrelli grandi come anitre, topi grandi come cani 
communi, n^ non sono presi da gatti ma da cani per la loro grandeza.^ In 
questa terra sono idolatrici, ma *1 signore adorano i saracini il bue'e dicono 
ch' egli k il grande Idio, e non mangiano came di bue, e lavorano col bue 
sei anni, il settimo anno i lasciano libero. Prendono anche dello stereo 
del bue, e pongolosi a la faccia, e dicono da indi inansi che sono santi€catL 
Alcuno altri adorano gli albori ed alcuno altri adorano U fuoco ed altri 
i pesci ed altri il sole ed altri la luna. In questa terra non prendono 
moglie altro che del mese di febraio, e questo h appo loro il primo mese 
de ranno. Gli uomini e le femmine vanno tutti ignudi, e 'a cotal modo 
menano le mogli. II marito e la moglie salgono insu uno cavallo in* 
sieme ; d '1 marito di dietro, e tiene la moglie in braccio, e non hanno 
indosso altro ch' una camicia e 'n capo una mitera grande piena di 
fieri.* £ *1 marito tiene un coltello* grande.ingDudo sopra le spalle della 
moglie, e tutte le yergini yano innanzi cantando ordinatamente, e ora 
restano un poco e noi yanno oltre.* In questa terra Bono albori che 
fanno yino che '1 chiamano loah(f e inebria molto gli uomini. Qaiyi 
eziandio non si sopeliscono i morti ma portansi con ffran festa a campi 
alle bestie e gli ucelli che gli diyorano. £ sono ^ui i buoi bellissimi, che 
hanno le coma bene uno mezzo passo, e sono iscrignuti a modo d'un 
camello. In questa terra yidi il luogo e gli uomini qua sono i quatro 
frati minori' come si narra nella storia loro. Da questa terra insino a 
Panche' sono xiiii giomate, e qui d la sedia del Re Poro che fu isoonfito 
dal grande Aleesandro. 

16.' Dd Pepe e come ti lo vendemiano ; e del regno di liinabar. 

Poi yeni per lo mare Oceano quaranta giomate, e peryenni a lo*mperio 
di Pirabar^^ doye nasce il pepe. £ nasce in cotal modo. L* albore che 

1 MiN. Rax. Qni viddi un leon grande e negrissimo tlla guisa d*an bnfalo : 
e yiddi le nottole o vogliam dice vespertiglioni come sono le anatre di qui da 
noi ; e topi cbiamati sorici di Faraone, che sono grandi come volpi, etc 

' The tcribe has made a hash of thi$. It is intended to he the equivalent of 
MiN. Ram. — II paese % di Saraciui ; la gente ^ idololatra e adora il bue. It 
prohiibly rant In questa terra sono Signori \ Saracini, ma la gente, etc. 

B MiN. Rak. una cuffia alta, alia guisa d'ana mitra, e lavorata di fieri 
bianchi. 

4 MiN. Ram. appontato alia gola. 

' Id. fine a casa dove lo sposo e la sposa si restano soli, e la matUna levati 
yanno pur nudi come prima. 

> See note on translation in loco. 

7 Sic. probably should be to tkie effect : Yidi il luogo, e gli uomini che uc- 
oisero i quattro frati, etc. 

> Sic, Perhaps it should be Paroohe (Broach) mentioned by Jordanus in a 
letter in this eoUeeiion, 

9 The Nos. 0-1& are omitted in order to maintain oorrespondenoe with the 
Latin text. 
M Or Pinibar (for Mintbar). 



APPENDIX II. Xlvii 

fA ]] pepe h fatto come Telera che nasce su per gli muri. Questo pepe 
sale Bu per gli albori che gli uomini piantano a modo de Telera, e Bale 
Bopra tutti li albori piii alti.^ QueBto pepe fa i rami a modo dell' uve; 
e in peruno inproducono tanta quaotitk di frutto ch* h incredibile ; 
e maturo si lo Tendemiano a modo de Tuve e poi pongono il pepe al sole 
a Beccare come uve passe, e nulla altra cosa si fa del pepe. • E del pepe 
ricente fanno composto e io ne mangiai, ed ebbine assai. E ivi cosi 
grande abondanza di pepe come qui in nostra terra di grano. E la selya 
dura per diciotto giornate, e n tutto il mondo non nasce pepe altro che 
qui. Quivi sono due citadi, una che si chiama Filandria e Taltra Sigli. 
Quivi sono molte calcatrici o yero cocolgrilli, e leoni in grande moltitu- 
dine, e dlTerse bestie che non sono in Franchia. Quie si arde il verzino 
per legne, e tutti i boschi son pieni di paoni salvatichi. Poi venni a 
Colonbio, ch* h la migliore terra d*India per mercatanti. Quiyi d il 
gengioyo in grande copia e del buono del mondo. Quiyi yanno tutti 
ignudi, aalyo che portano un panno innanzi a la yergogna istremo (?) 
e legalosi di dietro. 

17. Delle consuetudini strane deUa gerUe di Minabar, 

Quiyi adorano il bue e Tidolo lore ^ mezzo buoe e mezzo uomo, e 
fftyella alcun' ora e yuole sangue di xxz uomini e piii, e sangue di 
femmina, e yuole che sieno uccisi dinanzi da lui. E come noi faciamo 
yoti di dare a Dio nostri figliuoli o figliuole, cosi costoro a loro idolo 
e *ncontinente che egli il yuole e egli il recano e soenalo dinanzi a lui per 
reyerenza. E spesse yolte lo 'mperadore per maggior reyerenza o '1 re 
fa torre a damigelli una yacca, e tolgono un bacino d*oro, e riceyono 
entroyi Torina di questa yacca, e lo re se ne laya le mani e U yolto ; poi 
toglie de lo stereo di questa yacca, e ponselo a la faccia e unguesene le 
mascelle e*l petto, e poi dice ch' h santificato. £ facendo egli questo, 
tutti fanno il semigliante. In questa terra sono albori che conducono 
[producono X] mele, ed ^ del buono del mondo. ' Sonyi altri albori che 
producono yino ed albori che producono lana di che si fa tutto corde e 
funi, e sonyi albori che producono frutti che di due sarebe carico un 
forte uomo, e quando si yengono a manicare conyiene che altri s'unga 
le mani e la boca, e sono odorifili e molto saporiti e chiamansi frutto 
chabassi. Quiyi udi dire che sono albori che producono uomini e fem- 
inine a modo di frutti, e sono di grandezza un gomito, e sono fitti nelP 
albore insino al bellico, e cosi istanno ; e quando trae yen to e sono 
freschi, e quando non, pare che si seccano. Questo non yidi io, ma udilo 
dire a persone che Tayeano yeduto. Sono anche qui piii diverse cose che 
Bareboe lungo a dire e *ncredlbile e perd lascio. 

18. Dd rtame de Mohar dove giace U corpo di San Tomcuo Apostolo, 

Poi peryenni a uno imperio che si dice Mabare, ove fu morto San 
Tomaso apostolo. Quivi e il massimo imperio. Questa Mabor k pro- 
vincia. Qui si truova le perle, le maggiori e le migliori del mondo. 
Qui h uno idolo d'oro pure e massiccio della grandezza che si dipingue 
Santo Gristofano, ed a intomo al collo una corda piena di priete pre- 
ziose, e di perle grandi. Tutta la chiesa di questo idolo h a*oro puro. 
Tutti gl' idolatri del paese vanno in peligrinnaggio a questo idolo come 
i cristiani a Roma, e adorano in questo modo : che prima fanno tre 
passi, poi si stende in terra boccone ; e qui gli fa incenso col turibolo, e 
poi fa altri tre passi e fa il simigliante, e questo fanno da oerto luogo 

1 The original here is a tangle, which I have tried to reduce to iente. 



Xlviii APPENDIX II. 

insino a V idolo, anjando e reggendo (?) In cot&le peligrinagio molti 
portano una taTola in collo, ovvero mensa forata, e' mettono il capo per 
Jo foro, e cosi la tiene infino che perviene a 1* idolo, e quiyi la gettano 
dinanzi da lui. Altri sono che si forano il braccio con uno coltello, n^ 
non se nel' tragono da la casa insino a 1* idolo. £ io vidi questo e tuto 
il braccio era gia fracido. B molte altre diyerse penitCDzie quivi 
fanno. 

19. DdlefesU che fanno dd loro Idolo, 

E quando d la festa di questo idolo, una Tolta V anno, pongono 1* idolo 
in 8U un carro e menalo in certo luogo. Allora in prima [viene] lo 'm 
peradore, e poi il papa e altri eacerdoti che si chiamano tuin^ e altri che 
si sono botati^ si vanno sotto il carro, alcuno col capo; alcuno col corpo, 
secondo il vote che fa, si che le mote pasando sopra loro muoiono e 
ogni anno impromettono cosi d' essenie uccisi da cc infino cccc, e cosi h 
cosa oribilissima a vedere. Altri si offeriscono ispontaneamente a V idolo, 
e fanuosi un fomimento di fieri e gittano a 1* idolo della came sua, la 
quale tagliano col coltello d* ogni membro. Poi si percuotono col coltello 
insino al cuore, dicendo ecco che io muoio per lo Iddio mio. E cosi 
molti uccidono lor medesimi ; e cosi si santificano tra loro, come i martiri 
tra noi. Molti altri &nno Toto de' figliuoli loro e menagli dinanzi da 
questo idolo e scannagli. £t al lato di questo idolo h un luogo nel quale 
per la divozione gettano oro e argento, e in questo mode quella chiesa d 
mirabilmente richissima e chiamasi questo luogo ctlai in lor lingua. 

20. De" reami di Java e di Lamori, 

Di Mabara ci partimmo ed entrai nel mare Oceano, e navicai per piii 
di ; e perrenni a una nobile isola appellata de lava ; la quale d molto 
grande ed h qui abondanza quasi di tutti i beni Nella quale isola sono 
dodici reami ed in ciascuno reame a uno imperadore. Quivi nascono le 
noci moscade e gherofani, e '1 cubebe, e molte altre ispezie in grande 
quantity. £ qui massimamenta abonda i legno aloe e oro ottissimo. Poi 
nayicai per xi. giornate e arivai ad uno regno che si chiama Lamori, 
e 'n questa contrada cominciai a perdere la tramontana perd che la terra 
me la togliea. Kella quale terra gli uomini e le femmine senza nulla dis- 
tinzlone Tanno ignudi, non abendo niente in alcuna parte, se non che al- 
cuna femmina certo tempo quando partoriscono portano dinanzi a la ver- 
gogna una foglia d' arbore e legansela con una coreggia d* albore. E 
uceansi beffe di me, dicendo Iddio fece Adamo ignudo, ed io mi vesti a nuJ 
sue grade. £ tutte le femmine sono in commune in tal modo che nulla n' 
h appropiata a niuno omo, ma ciascuno si pud pigliare qual piil gli place, 
pur che non facia impedimento a V altro. £ quando ingravida puote la 
femmina appropiare il figliuolo a cui ella Yuole. £ziandio tutta la terra 
h a commune, si che or nullo pu6 dire questa casa h mia ma ci seno hanno 
in ispeziale.' Quivi eziandio mangiano le cami umani, e Saracini vi re- 
cano de 1* altre provincie gli uomini e vendogli loro in mercatanzia ; e 
sono mangiati da colore e sono uomini bianchi, che de* neri come sono 
eglino non mangiano. £ sono uomini fieri in battaglia e vanno a la bat- 
taglia ignudi, salvo che portano in braccio uno iscudo che gli quoprono 
insino a piedi. £ se prendono alcuno nella battaglia si lo mangiano. 

1 Botati /or votati. 

2 Not inUlUgible, It rufu in the MS. — Ma ciseuo (or) cifeno ano in ispeziale. 
It ii probably meant /or, "except that they have houses to themsehes,*' om in 
the Latin MSS, If that be to, perhapt oasa $hould read cosa. 



APPENDIX II. xlix 



21. Lei Reame ch* t chimaia Sumeira, 

Di quindi ci partimmo e venimmo ad un altro regno di questa Isola ch^ h 
chiamata Sumetra, e qui portano alcun cosa per yestimento, cio ^ un 
panno istretto sopra la vergogna. £ sono eziandio fieri uomini e pigliano 
bataglia co' sopra detti. £ tutti questi uomini e femine sono segnati in 
della fronte, cio^ nella faccia, d'un ferro di cavallo a nostro modo. In 
questa contrada h grande mercato di porci e di galline e di burro e di 
nsoy h qui ^ frutto ottimo cio^ Mussi, £ trovasi quivi oro e stagno a 
l^saad^ quantitiL Quivi si pigliano le tartugi, cioe testugini, mirabili, 
e sono di molti colori e paiono quasi dipinte. Poi veni a V altro regno 
di questa Isola ch' h chiamata Bucifali e U mare di turci (?) questo regno 
si chiama il mar morto. Ed egli b tutto il contrario, che U mare pende 
e corre si forte ch* h incredibile, e se marinai si partono punto dallito 
Tanno discendendo, e non tornano mai. £ non 6 alcuno che sapiano 
dove si vadono, e molti sono cosi iti e non seppono mai che se ne fossono. 
£ la nave nostra fu6 in grande pericolo, andando quindi, se non ae che 
Idio ci aiutoe miracolosamente. 

22. DdP cdhori che danno farina ; e de* aghi velencUi che sofiano 

i coraali da certe canne. 

In questa isola sono albori che producono farina e '1 pane che se ne fa 
6 asai bianco di fuori, ma dentro h alquanto nero ma in cuciua questa 
farina h molto buono. E non ti maravigliare che gli albori facciano 
farina, impercid che '1 modo ^ questo. Prendono una iscure, e perquotono 
1' albore in quella I'albore fa schimma e fa gromma molto grossa. Poi 
prendo[no] vasi ovvero ceste, e tolgono quella gromma e mettolavi dentro 
poi per xxz di per se medesimo sanza tocarla. Divien farina in quelle 
modo. Poi per tre di prendono aqua marina e colano quella farina in 
quella aqua, poi gettano quella aqua marina, poi per tre di prendono 
aqua dolce e *ntridola con quella ; poi ne fanno la bella massa, e pare il 
piu bello pane che sia al mondo nel sapore. Onde nel regno ove noi 
savamo (?) ci venemeno tutti gli altri alimenti fuori che questa farina en 
ffrande quantitik e a buono mercato. E questa contrada tiene insieme 
bene quatordici migliaia d* isole e altri dicono di meno. Alcuno chiama 
questa contrada da Talamosa e alcuni altri Panthe. £n queste isole 
sono molte cose maravigliose e strane. Onde alcuni albori ci sono che 
fanno farina come detto, h alcuni fanno mele, alcuni seta, alcuni lana e 
alcuni che fanno veleno pessimo. Oontro al quale nullo v^ h rimedio se 
non se lo stereo de Tuomo. E quelli uomini sono quasi tutti corsali, e 
quando vanno a battaglia portano ciascuno una canna in mano,.di lun- 
ghezza d'un braccio e pongono in capo de la canna uno ago di ferro 
atossiato in quel veleno, e sofiano nella canna e Tago vola e percuotolo 
dove vogliono, e 'ncontinente quelli ch^ ^ percosso muore. M*a egli hanno 
le tina piene di stereo d'uomo e una iscodella di stereo guarisce 1* uomo da 
queste cotali ponture. In questa contrada a canne alte piii di Iz passi, si 
grosse che sarebbe impossibile a credere. Anche v*ae un' altra geuerazione 
di canne che si istendono per terra e chiamassi caruaUe. £*n ogni node di 
quelle canne fanno barbe a modo di gramigna, e queste cane crescono e pro- 
lungansi per diritto tramito per tera pii!i d' un miglio ma non sono molto 
grosse, ma a modo delle canne di Franchia. In queste canne vi nascono 
eutro priete* che chiunque tiene di queste priete sopra se, dicono che nullo 

* An once hffore for piotre. 



1 APPENDIX II. 

feiro lo pud tagliare. Or quando Yoeliono trovare la prieta, si percuo- 
toDO la canna col ferro e se*! ferro noTa taglia ede cercano per la prietra, 
e tolgono legni affutisimi, e taglienti e cepi e tagliono e 'neidono tanto 
che peryengono a la pietra, el padre ch' k ngliuoh tolgono questa pietra 
e faono una fenditura nel dosso al figliuolo e mettonvi entro questa 
pietra ; poi la fa saldure il del corpo del fanciullo poi nuUo ferro pu6 
mai tagliare della came di questo uomo. Quegli che Togliono combat- 
tere con quest! cotali ch* ano questa pietra portano pali di legno apunta- 
tissimi, e con quelli gli fierono e uccidono. Li uomini di questa contrada 
sono tutti grandisimi ladroni. Quivi nasce un pesce ch* a cotale natura 
che quando altri pigliase questo pesce e ricideselo in piii parti e una di 
queste parti si racozi e tochi V altra incontinente si rapica insieme e 
saldasi come se mai non y* avesse ; avuto niente. Di questo pesce fiuino 
seccare e fannone polyere, e portala con lore duunche yanno in battaglia, 
e pongosela i lore ferite e *ncontinente salda. £n questa contrada a due 
vie, r una ra in Zapa, e I'altra in Silania.* 

23. Ddl Iwla di Silan. 

(Silan) h una grande isola nel la quale sono diyerse bestie e massima- 
mente serpenti i magiori del mondo. Ed d incredibile ed h ancora mira- 
bile cosa, che nh bestia n^ serpenti noe impediscono nessuno uomo fores- 
tiere, e [offendono ?] massimamente que' dell* isola. E sono quiyi molti 
leofanti salyatichi. £d avi una generazione di serpenti ch* anno collo di 
cavallo e capo di serpente e corpo di cane e coda di serpente ed anno 
quatro piedi e sono grand! come buoi e piccoli com* asini. II r^ di questa 
isola d molto ricco in oro e *n pietre preziose. Quivi s! truovano i 
buoni diamanti e rubini e perle in grande copia. Quiyi d *1 monte grande 
come dicono quell! della contrada ch* Adamo e Adeba piansono Abello per 
Gaino. In sulla cima del monte ^ alcuna pianura bellaed ay! un lago, e 
dicono che 1* aqua di quelle lago sono le lagrime d'AdAno ed Aaeba» 
Hel fondo di questo lago sono pietre preziose. II Re d! quindi no yi 
lascia pescare se no se gente poyera I bisongnosa. Quando alcuno a 
licenza di pescare si ya ed ugnesi tutto quanto del sugo Innhort^ e poi 
yae al fondo e quante pu6 prendere di queste pietre yae e recale suso. E 
sonyi tante di queste mignatte che se non fosse il sugo di questo albore 
uciderebbe gli uomini. E ciascuno yi puote entrare una yolta e quello 
che prende S suo. Questo f a il Re per cagione umile. 

Di questo lago esce un riyo e 'n questo riyo si truoyano i buoni cheru- 
bini' in grande quantita, e quando questo riyo entra in mare quiyi si truo- 
yano le buone perle. E questa isola d delle maggiori ch* abbia Tlndia 
ed a grande abondanza di formento e d*olio e d*ogni' bene. Moltt mer- 
catanti Tanno a questa isola per la grande abondanza delle pietre che yi 
sono. Ayi assai altre cose delle quali narrare non euro. 

24. Ddl* Imperadore di Zapa, che a gran copia d^ leofanti, 

Poi andai per molte giomate nayicando e peryenni a lo *mperio di 
Zapa \* ch*d bella terra ed ^ molto abondante, quasi in ogni cosa. Quello 
imperadore al ne tomo di xiiii°> di leofanti, e gli altri uomini anno i 
leofanti come no! abbiamo nella nostra contrada i buoi. E quello im- 

1 Here U a very mani/eit interpolation by way of accounting for the double 
narrative, noticed in the introduction, 
^ Sic. probably for \imhoTie, ^ Sic, 

* Doubtlefifor Zapa, Le., Zampa. 



APPENDIX II. li 

peradore secondo che si dice ae da dugento figliuoli e figliuole, tutte 
propie e propii. 

dn' altra maraTigliosa cosa a *n questa contrada che ciascune gene- 
razioni di pesci che sono in mare veDgono in questa contrada in si 
grande quantity che nulla altra cosa si yede in mare se non se pesci ; e 
medesimamente si gettano sopra la riva e catuna persona ne prende 
quanti ne Yole ; e stanno cosi in suUa riva per due d) o tre e poi yiene un' 
altra generazione di pesci, e fanno il simile, e cosi tutte 1* altre gene- 
razioni di pesci, una yolta I'anno. Ed essendo domandati gli uomini 
della contrada perchd cosi facciano, rispondono che yengono a fare 
reyerenza a lo 'mperadore. In questa contrada yidi una testugine 
maggiore per tre yolte che non k la chiesa di santo Antonio di Padoya, 
ed altre marayiglie y' i^ assai. Quando alcuno muore in questa contrada, 
il marito morto ardollo e con esso lui la moglie, e dicono che la moglie ya 
a stare col marito nelP altro mondo, e cotali modi tengono. 

35. DeiV laola di Nichoverra dove anno gli uomini la testa a modo 

d*un cane, 

Partendomi di questa contrada navicai per lo mare Oceano per lo 
merizzo,* e troyai molte isole e contrada, tra le quali n* a una che si chia- 
ma Nichoyera.' E gira bene dumila miglia ; nella quale tutti gli uomini 
anno il capo a modo d*un cane, e adorano il hue. E ciascuno porta in 
della fronte un hue d*oro o d*argento, e tutti yanno ignudi, le femmine 
e gli uomini, salyo che la yergogna si cuoprono con una toyagliuola. So- 
no queste genti grandi del corpo, e forti in battaglia, e yanno ignudi 
nella battaglia, salvo che portano uno iscudo che*l cuopre tut to, e se 
pigliano alcuno in battaglia che no si possa ricomperare pecunia, si lo 
mangiano.' E lo Re loro* porta ccc. gran pietre a collo, e conviene che 
faccia ogni d) ccc. orazioni agli Iddi suoi. E porta in della mano ritta un 
grande cherubino, e^ lungo bene una ispana, pare una fiamma di fuoco :* 
la quale il Gran Cane s*^ molto ingegnato d* averla, e no T k potuta avere. 
Questo Re' tiene giustizia, si che ogni uomo pud ire liberamente per lo 
8U0 reame. 

Evvi un* altra isola che si chiama Sillia" che gira anche bene m m 
miglia, ne la ouale son serpenti e molti altri animali salvatichi e leofanti 
e diversi uccelli. 

Sonci uccelli grandi come oche ed anno due capi, e grande quantity 
di vettuaglia. 

26. D^a gente ddV hola domandaia Dodin, e deUe me conauetudini 

orribili. 

Partendomi quinci verso oriente perveni a una grande isola chiamata 
Dodin,' nella quale sono pessimi uomini e mangiano la came cruda [ed] 

^ MiN. Hah. Juia verso il Nirisi, whatever that maj mean. 

' MiN. Ram. Niooverra. 

' MiK. Ram. S' egli mangiano arrostiti. E '1 simile e futto a loro dai nemici. 

^ Mm. Ram. di qoeste vestie. 

' MiN. Ram. e per lo vero Iddio, the oecational introduction of which oath 
tf pecuUar to that copy. 

* Id. che parea d'baver in mano un carbone infocato. 

7 Id. benche sia idololatra e col viso rassembri un cane, tien ragione e 
ginstizia, ed ha gran quantiti di figIioli,ed e di gran possaoza e per tutto, etc 

^ Here we have Ceylon again, showing that the work has been tampered 
with. » MiN. Ram. Diddi. 

e2 



lii APPENDIX II. 

immondizia. Questi anno sozza consuetudine : il padre mangia il figli- 
uolo, e'l figliuolo il padre, il marito la moglie, e la moglie il marito ; in 
questo modo, che Tanno al sacerdoio e dicono cosi (quand' anno alcuna 
malatia), domanda lo Dio s'io debbo guarire di questa malatia. 8e lo 
idolo risponde (ch' h *1 diavolo che fayella) e dice che debbia guarire, si dice 
loro andate e fate cosi, e guariL, e cosi fanno. £ se lo idolo risponde che 
debbia morire ; e*l sacerdote yiene con uno panno in mano e pogliele in 
sulla bocca e afogallo. Poi tagliano per pezzi, e inyitano tutto il 
parentado, e mangioUo con canti e con festa. Foi mettono 1* ossa di per 
se, tutte quante, e prendole e metonle soierra con solennitade. £ quelli 
parenti che non vi fossono invitati seU riputano a disonoreJ lo ripresi 
costoro ;^ rispuosonmi che*l mangiayano, perchd se gli iuyenninasse 
ranima patirebbe pena.* 

27. DelU zxiv mila isoU d^ India, 

Molte novit^ sono in questa India le quali se Tuomo no le yedese no le 
crederebbe, per6 no le iscriyo qui ma in altro luogo ne &rd memoria ; che 
in tutto 11 mondo no ae tante noyitk quanto sono in questa. £ diman- 
dando diligentemente del tenore di questa India tutti mi dissono che 
questa India tiene xziiiimo d* isole in se, e sono piDi di sessantaquatro 
Be^ e la maggiore parte h bene abitata. 

28. Comt pervene Fraie Odorico all ^ India Supericre ed aHa nobiU 

pnmnda di Manxi. 

Nayicando per piii giomate yerso V oriente peryeni a Tlndia superiore, 
e peryenimmo a la nobile proyincia di Manzi, la quale h chiamata I'lndia 
di Sopra. Kella quale proyincia ae duemila grandi citt^ di tra le quali 
cittii Treyigi n^ Yicenza no sarebono nominate per cittadi.^ £d h si 
grande moltitudine di genti in quella India che tra not non sarebbe 
(in)credibile. Nella quale a grande quantity di pane, di yino, di came, 
di pesci e d'ogni yettuaglia, come in nulla terra di mondo. £ gli uomini 
[sono] artifici e mercatanti, ixh per nulla poyertii ch*abbia nullo di loro no 
adomandano limosina, insino che possono atarsi con le loro mani. Gli 
uomini di questo paese sono assai belli di corpo, ma nel yiso sono alquanto 
pallidi, ayendo barba a modo di gatto.* Le femmine sono le piii belle 
del mondo. 

29. Delia gran cittade di Tescalan. 

In questa proyincia la prima citade che io troyai si chiama Teschalan,* 
la quale h maggiore che tre yolte Yinegia, di lunge dal mare una giomata, 
posta in su un fiume. Questa cittade a tanto nayiglio ched k incredibile, 

^ MiN. Ham. £ quali sono lieti qnando alcuno 8*inferma, per posserlo man- 
glare e fame festa. 

3 MiN. Ram. e dettogU ohe farebbono meglio a lasciarli morire natural- 
mente, e sotterrarli. 

* MiN. Ram. di modo che Iddio offesa dalla puzza non gli riceyerebbe nella 
gloria sua. 

^ MiN. Bak. Piil de due mila grosse eittadi, ed alire tante tennte e grosse 
castella, che sono come Yicenza o Trivigi, che non ban nome di cllti.^ In 
questa paese e tanta moltitudine di gente, che h una cosa incredibile, di tal 
Rorte che in molte parti di detta provincia yiddi piii stretta la gente che non e 
a Vinetia al tempo dell' Ascensione. 

' MiN. Rah. con i peli della barba irti e male composti alia guisa delle capre. 

* MiN. Rah. Tescol. 



APPENDIX II. liii 

che tra tutia Italia non a tanto. In questa terra ae le maggiori oche del 
mondo che sono ben per due delle nostre' e sono bianche come latte. £d 
ano Bopra del capo un osso grande come un novo vermiglio come una 
grana, e sotto la gola pende una pelle bene per uno semisso ed assi Tunc 
di questi cotali per un grosso, e cosi Toche come Tanitre, e cosi le galline 
Bono si grand! ch' h maraTigliosa cosa a vedere. In questa cittade s'^ per 
meno d'un Y iniziano' ben trecento lib. di gengiovo fresco. In questa con- 
trada sono maggiori serpent! ch' abbia il mondo, e pigliogni e mangialli 
in ogni convito da bene, e no d tenuto bello convito se di questo nu a.' 
Qui 1 abondanza d'ogni vittuaglia. 

30. DeUa npbile cittd di Zditon ; e de* munoiUri degli idolcUri. 

Di quindi mi parti di questa contrada e veni per xxzyi^ giprnate e 
troirai dimolte cittadi e castella, poi veni a una nobile cittade che si chiama 
ZcUaiton;* nella quale nostr! frat! minor! anno due [luoghi]. E 'n questa 
terra portammo Tossa de* frati che furo martirizati per Qesd Cristo. In 
questa terra ae abondanza di tutte le cose necessarie al corpo de Tuomo, 
pid che 'n tera che sia al mondo. Ayerebbonsi bon tre libre de zuchero 
per un grosso. £d d citade grande per due volte Bologna.* Sonci 
molti munasteri di religios! di ridolatri, ne* quali sono ben dumilia 
riligiosiy ed anno bene x!°^ d'idoli. E '1 minore^ d a modo d'un grande 
san Christofano, ed anno loro dimolte vivande calde che vanno insino al 
naso. Gli altri vivande si mangiano eglino.^ 

31. DeUa eiud di Fozzo ; e del modo chepeseano i pescatori. 

Partendomi di questa terra e venendo verso oriente ad una citade che 
si chiama Fozzo' che gira ben trenta miglia. Qui sono ! maggiori gall! 
del mondo ; e le galline bianche come latte, e non anno penne ma Tana 
a modo di pecore. Quindi partendoci andai per xviii giornate passando 
per molte cittadi e castella, veni a un grande monte, E da un lato di 
questo monte tutti gli animal! son neri e gl! uomini e le femmine 
a nostro modo di vivere ; da quali de I'altro lato del monte verso oriente 
per Qontrario tutti gli animal! v! sono bianchi.^^ Into (?) quelle che sono 
maritate in questo luogo per segno di matrimonio portano un grande 
barile di como." 

Partendomi per altre zviii giornate passando cittadi e castella arrival 
a" un grande fiume ch' ae" un grande ponte a traverse sopra il fiume; e 
albergai in capo del ponte. E Teste, volendom! fare a piacere, mi disse, 
^* Yo tu venire a vedere pescare, vieu! quL" E menomi in sul ponte ; 

1 MiN. Rau. maggiori tre volte delle nostre. 

* Id. per un dacato viddi dar 700 libre, etc. 

3 In. Adz! quando vogliooo far oonvito piii famoso, tanti pid serpent! ap- 
pareecbiano, e danno in tavola a convitati. 

* Id. 27. A lo. Zanton. 

' In. Haomini e donne sono piacevoli e beU! e cortesi, massime a forastieri. 

7 Id. 6 due volte piii grande d'un uomo. 

^ Id. e loro si mangiano le bevande refreddate che sono. 

* Id. Foggia. 

^^ Id.. Ma I'una parte e I'altra mi pareva che vivessino e vestisseno 
come bestie. 

^^ Id. portano in testa un como d! legno ooverto di pelle lungo piii di due 
spanne a mezzo la fronte. 

^ Id. ad una citta chiamata Belsa, che ha un fiume, etc. 



liy APPENDIX II. 

quin di sotto erano barche. E Tidi maragoni* in su pertiche ; e Tuomo 
gli legd la bocca, oyrero la gola con filo, che non potestono mangiare de 
peacL Poi puose tre gran ceste nella barca ; poi isciolse i maragoni in 
quali si gitavano nell' aqua, e prendeano de* pesd, e metevagni nella 
barca, e tosto Tebbero piene. Poi isciolsopo i maragoni il filo ch* 
aveano legato a collo, e mandarano nel fiume a pascergli. £ pasciuti 
tomayano a loro luoghi, e pasaando per molte giomate vidi pescare in 
altro modo. Gli uomini della barca erano ignudi, e aveano aacco a collo 
e gittandofli nell' aqua pigliayano i pesci con mano e metteano nel sacco.* 
Tomando gelati nella oarca si entravano in uno tinello d' aqua calda, e 
poi faceano il semigliante. 

32. Delia maraviglioM citta de Charuai. 

Di questo luogo e cittade partendomi perveni ad una grande e 
maravigliosa citade chiamata Cbansai, eh* h a dire in nostra lingua 
** Cittade del Cielo.** Questa h la magiore cittade del mondo.* Nella 
quale non ae ispana di terreno che non s* abiti. E sonvi case di dieci e 
dodici famiglie e masserizie.^ La detta cittade a borghi grandissimi, ne* 
quali abitano assai piii gente che nella cittade. La cittade ae dodici 
porte principal i e a ciascuna porta preso a otto miglia sono cittadi, 
ciascuna maggiore che Padoya o Yinegia ; nelle quali andammo sei e 
sette d) per uno di que* borghi.* Questa cittade h in aqua di lagune a 
modo di Yinegia, nella quale k piii di zii™* ponti e *n ciascuna istanno 
guardie che guardano la cittade per lo gran Cane. A lato a questa 
cittade corre un fiume cheposcha,^ lo quale d piiH largo che lungo. Della 
quale diligentemente domandai i Cristiani e oaracini e idolatri, e tutti 
mi rispuosono per una lingua, Gatuno paga per lo signore una bastise," 
cid cinque carte bambagine, che sono bene uno fiorino e mezzo. £ per 
questa cagione sono ben dodici famiglie ad un fuoco. Questi focolari 
sono Ixxxv tumani ed anche iv tumani di 8aracini, si che in tutto sono 
Ixxxix tumanL £d ^ il tumano x™ fuochi.' Qli altri sono mercatanti 
e gente che va e viene. Marayigliomi molto come tanta gente possono 
insieme abitare, ed avi si grande doyizia di pane e di yino e di porci, e 
di rise, e bigini, ch* h un nobile beyeraggio, e di tutte altre yittuaglie, 
ch* h marayiglia a yedere. Questa h cittade reale nella quale dimora il 
Rd di Manzi. 

33. Ddla maraviglia ehe vede il Fr, Odorico in un munistero degli 

idolatri. 

In questa cittade nostri frati minori^^ conyertirono a la fede un poten- 

1 Marangone it a diver {tea bird to caUed), In thit ttory the Mm. Ram. 
hcLt the extraordinary variation which hat been noticed in a note on the trans- 
lation. Marigione, apparently intended for the tame word^ it there applied to 
a teal, > Min. Bam. per un ottayo d'ora. 

3 Min. Ram. E si grande ohe a peoa ardisoo di dirlo: Ma ho ben troyaie in 
Yioetia assai persone che yi sono state. 

* Min. Ram. Casa yi ne sono assaissime di otto e di dieoi solan, ohe in ogni 
Bolaro habita una fameglia con le sue massarie per la gran carestia di terreno 
{the interpolation of tome telftujfficient teribe). 

' Id. Noi erayamo 7 che andassimo per quel borghi. 

' In. again hat per Dio yero e sono di certo di piil di dieci miglia. 

7 Sic. 

" For Balisi ; ttiU further corrupted in Min. Ram. to Bastagne. 

' The Min. Ram. has got all wrong here, but it is soaroelj worth quoting. 

^ Lir. Ram. tayt, doye e un luogo dei Frati minori. 



APPENDIX II. Iv 

lissimo ne la cui caea io albergai, e diceami, " Atta,** (cio^ a dire Padre) 
** Yieni e mostreroti la terra." E saliti in una barca, e menoci al munistero' 
di Babani, cio^ relifi^iosi, e dissemi [should be disse ad] uno di questi 
religiosi ;' vedi un Rabani che yiene di quelle parti dove si pone il 
sole, e Tae a Ohanbalu,' a cid che qui prieghi per lo gran signore, e per6 
mostragli alcuna cosa che possa racontare nel buo paese. E quegli 
prese due grandi mascelle di quelle ch' erano Boperchiate alia mensa, e 
menoci in uno giardino a un monticello ch' era pieno d*albori. E 
Bonando un cembalo yenero molti animali salyatichi Bocio saP gatti- 
maimoni, iscimie e molte altre bcBtie Balyatiche, tra quali yenoro ben 
tre milia ch* ayeano forma d* uomo, i quali b* acconciaro Tuno alato a 
Taltro, ed a catuno puose una iscodella in mano, e daya loro mangiare. 
Poi sonando un tamburo, tutti questi animali si tomayano a luogo loro 
ed io yeggendo questo dimandai, che cid yoleya dire. Ed e mi Yispuo* 
sono ch* erano anime di certi nobili uomini che si yeniano a pascere 
quiyi per Tamore di Dio. Ed io istogliendogli di questo, e dicendo loro 
che non erano anime ma bestiuoli, nulla ne yolono credere, e dicono che 
come Tuomo h nobile in questo mondo, cosi quando muoiono entrano in 
nobili animali. E del yilano dicono ch* entra in brutti animali. Questa 
h la maggiore citi^ del mondo e la migliore per mercatanti, ed h molto 
doyiaiosa d'ogni bene come detto ^. 

34. Delia ciUade Chilemd; e dd granfiume Talay, 

Partendomi quindi andai per sei giornate e peryeni a una grande 
cittade che si chiama Chilensi.* I muri di questa cittade girano bene 
zl miglia, ne* quale sono ccclx ponti* di pietra de* belli ch* abbia nel 
mondo. Questa cittade fue la prima sedia del Re de Manzi ed ^ cittade 
molto bene abitata, e di grande nayiglio marayigliosa, e [di] copia di 
tutti i beni del mondo. Di quindi partendomi per tre giornate yeni a 
uno grande fiume de maggiori del mondo che Ik doye gli d piil istretto ^ 
largo ben yii miglia.^ Questo fiume passa per mezzo la cittk Piomario^ 
la cui contrada si chiama Chaicho, ch* h delle piii belle cittadi del 
mondo, e delle maggiori. I quali uomini ch* abitano in questa terra 
son grandi tre spanne, e fanno il maggiore layoro di bambagia (clod di 
cotone) che si yedesse mai. E grandi uomini che sono tra loro in- 
generano figliuoli e figliuole che sono piil che la metk di que* piccoli e 
'ngenerano sanza noyero. 

35. Ddle cittd di Januai e di Menzu. 

Andando per questo fiume del Talaigi,' passando per piii cittadi yenni 
ad una cittade che si chiama ^^ nella quale a un luogo di frati 

> MiN. Ram. In un munistero chiamato Thebe. 

' MiN. Rah. htu Ed uno di quei religiosi mi disse, O Rabin... va con quento 
ohe h del tno ordine che yi mostrera qual cosa di naovo, etc. It is very much 
corrupted and interpolated by one who misunderstood things. 

3 It is in the MS. Ghabatau; but as it is right elsewhere I have oorrected 
it here. 

« Not inUUigibU in MS. 

^ Lit. Rax. Chilense. * Id. Porte. 

7 MiN. Rah. Ma perche no yi erano oose degne di mernvigUa, poco vi dimo- 
rammo, e navigando troyammo un fiume largo piii di 20 miglia, di cui un 
ramo passo per la terra chiamata Piemaronni, etc. 

8 Or Piomazio. • Should be del Talay e. 
>o MiK. Rah. Sai. 



Ivi APPENDIX II. 

minori. In questa cittade Bono chiese di cristiani Nestoiii. Questa 
cittade e nobile e grande ch* ane Iviii tomani di focolari ch* eyre il 
tomano x"^ focolari.* In questa cittade sono tute quelle cose di che 
debbiono viyere gli christiani. 

II senore a solamente di rendita di questa di sale l tomani di balissi 
che Tale il balisso un fiorino e mezzo, che monta il tumano xy^ fiorini 
d*oro. Questa terra a questa usanza, che quando alcuno yoI fare alcuno 
convito a suoi grandi amici, son?i alberghi diputati clone, e dice a I'oste 
Fami un convito di cotanti danari. £ nullo d che faccia nuUo conTito 
in casa. Questa terra a grandissimo navigli in gran copia. Presso a 
questa cittade, a dieci miglia ane un' altra cittade, la quale si chiama 
Menzu, la quale ane il maggiore navigiio che citt^ del mondo ched ^ in- 
credibile la quantity, e sono tutte bianche dipinte di gesso, avendo in loro 
quelle belle sale e difici. 

36. Ddgranfiume Caramoran, 

Partendomi di questa cittade per otto giornate passando per molte 
cittadi e castella e d*aque dolci, veni ad una cittade la quale h chiamata 
Launcj,' la quale h fondata sopra un fiume che si chiama Ohiaramoran, 
il quale passa per mezzo del Cataio e fa grande danno quando si 
corrompe a modo del Pd. £ andando per questo fiume passando molte 
cittadi e castella verso T oriente per molte giornate, perveni a una grande 
cittade chiamata Sogomerca,' la quale cittade a maggiore abondanza di 
seta ch* altra cittade che sia al mondo, che quando vene la maggiore 
carestia se n* arebbe ben zl lib. per^ meno di viii di grossi, ed ane grande 
copia d'ogni mercatanzia di pane e d*ogni bene. 

37. Delle grandi cittd di Chambalu e di Taidoy e ddpcdagio dd 

Gran Cane. 

Parteudorai della cittade di Sozomacho passai per molte cittadi e 
terre verso oriente, e perveni* k la nobile cittade di Chanbalu.* Questa 
cittade h molto antica ed d nella provincia del Catai. Questa cittade 
presoro i Tartari, e presso a questa cittk ^ un mezzo miglio ne fecero un' 
altra, che la chiamano Taido. £d ane zii porti e da Puna a TaJtra 
Bono due grandi miglia, e tra Tuna cittade a I'altra ben s'abita. £'1 
circuvito di queste due cittadi che sono insieme gira bene Ix miglia. In 
questa cittade il gran Cane ane la sua sedia, e dentro ene il suo palagio 
che gira quatro miglia, e contiene in se molti palagi e belli. £gli h 
quadro, ed a tre cerchi di mura, e in catuno canto d'ogni muro % un 
grande palagio, si che pur questi son dodici, e catuno h diputato a 
diverse cose. £ nel miluogo h quelle dove ista il Signore.' £ '1 primo 

1 MiN. Bam. 18 Tomani o/ focolari, each of which it 10,000 fochi, euid each 
foco 10 or 12 families! 

' MiN. Ram. Laurenza. 

8 MiN. Ram. Sunzomaco, and below Sozomacho. 

^ MiN. Ram. per un soldo E perche vi era in questo loco piii gente ehe 

in niuD altro che havessi visto domandando donde ci6 avenisse mi fo risposto 
per cento che I'aria e il luogo sono alia generazione molto salatiferi, di modo 
tale che poco sono che moiono se non di veoohiezza. 

^ Id. Navigando da quattro giornate. It it Chanbanan in the MS. But, as 
it is right elsewhere^ I have corrected it. 

* Lit. Ram. has Cambalu. 

7 MiM. Ram. II cui palazzo gira piil di quattro miglia, $d ad ogni cantone 



APPENDIX II. Ivii 

cereuito delle mura ane ire porti in ogoi faccia, e dentro a questo 
circuito ene il Monte Verde nel qual* d edificato un molto bello palagio 
de' pi& belli del mondo. Questo monte gira bene un miglio, nei quale 
son piantati albori che d*ogni tempo tengono la verzura. A lato a 
questo monte ^ &tto un molto bello lago sopra il quale ane un gran 
ponte de' piil belli del mondo, nel quale lago son oche salvatiche ed 
anitre e ceceri[e]* anitrocoli, ch' h maraviglia a vedere. Onde quando 

10 segnore vole cacciare non gli bisogna d* uscire di casa, per5 che *n 
questo circuito son molti giardini di molte bestiuole e di tutte maniere. 

11 palagio principale nel quale ista la sedia del Gran Cane d quivi. 
(Ane) levata la terra piil ch' al trove due passi; nel qual palagio a dentro 
xxiv colonne d* oro, e tutti i muri del palazzo son coperti di pelli rosse 
le piii nobili pelle che sieno in India. £ nel mezzo del palagio ane una 
grande pigna tutta d*una pietra preziosa che si chiama Medachas,' ed d 
tutta legata d'oro; e nel canto di questa pigna a un serpen te d*oro, 
e che la batte continuamente ; ed una rete d'oro, e di perle grandi, 
dipende da questa pigna, ed h larga forse una ispana, £ questa pigna 
porta per condotto il beveragio del la corte del segnore. A lato a questa 
pigna istanno molti vaselli d*oro da here. In questo palagio sono 
molti paoni d'oro, e quando alcuno Tartero vol far festa allora battono 
le mani e paoni allora battono Talie, e pare che giuochino.' Questo si la 
per arte diavolica, e per altro ingegno che sotterra nascono. 

38. Delia corte e deUa gloria del Oran Signore Cane. 

Quando il Gran Oane siede in sulla sedia imperiale da lato sinistro 
ista la reina, e un grade piii giii istanno due altre sue mogli ; e poi di 
sotto tutte le donne del parentado ordinatamente. £ le maritate porcano 
un pie d* uomo in sul capo, lungo un mezzo braccio, e sotto le piante di 
questo piede portano penne di gril, e *1 dosso del piede tutto omato di 
grandi perle del mondo. Da lato destro poi si pone a sedere il suo 
figliuolo primogenito che del regnare dope lui, e di sotta a quelli 
istanno tutti quelli che sono di sangue reale. Poi di sotto a quelli sono 
iy scrittori, che scrivono tutto cid che dice il Signore. Dinanzi da lui 
istanno suoi baron i assai sanza novero, de* quali nuUo ^ ardito di parlare 
se non 6 domandato dal Signore maggiore. Poi yi sono i giuccolari che 
yogliono fare allegrezza al Signore, ma no fano mai se non se le leggi a 
loro imposte.^ Dinanzi alia porta del palagio istanno baroni a guardia 
che non sia nuUo che tocchi la porta del palagio ; che se per alcuno si 
tocasse e duramente battuto.* 

e nn palazzo dove dimoro ano de' quatro sui baroni prinoipali. E dentro al 
palazzo grande h nn altro circnito di muro, che da un muro al altro e ferae 
tnezza tirate d'arco, e tra qaesti muri vi stanno ; suoi provinionati con tutte 
le sue famiglie. £ nel altro circuito abita il Gran Cane con tutte i suoi con- 
ginnti, che sono assaissimi, con tanti figluoli, figluole, generi, de nepoti, con 
tante moglie, consiglieri, secretarii, e famegli, che tutta il palazzo che gira 4 
miglia, viene ad esser habitato. 

' ThU is probably meant for the oesane of the Latin MSS,, whether that 
be a genuine word or a mistake for eycne, Min. Ram. has £ran nell* acqua le 
centinaia dell' anatre, e de assaissimi uocelli che yiyono di pesoe, d' ogni sorte, 
che quel lago product. 

^ MiM. Ram. Medecas. 

3 Ij>. A tomo la mensa sua son molti pavoni amaltati ohe paiono ohe sian 
yiyi ; e tal volta si mettono a cantare fine che '1 Signore mangia. 

^ Min. Ram. £ di quei buffoni ciascuno ha I'hora sua deputata, quando dee 
star in guardia e trattenimento del Signore. 

^ Min. Ram. Ma nolle porte sono gnardie grandissime: e se alcuno vi 



Iviii APPENDIX II. 

Quando il Signore fane alcano conyito allora i suoi anno w^^ di 
baroni ooUe corone in capo, che BOirono nel convito ; catuno de* quali 
ane tale yeatimento in dosso che solo le perle di eiaseuuo vestimento 
Tale xr^ fior d' oro. La sua corte ^ ordmata per decime, e yen tine, e 
centinaia e migliaia, che tra loro ordinatamente si rispondono, e ne loro 
ufici non fe difetto nullo. £d io frate Oderigo fui ben tre anni in questa 
sua cittade, e noi frati minori ayiamo ndla terra un luogo diputato a 
darli la nostra benedizione.* £ domandando io diligentemente da cristiani 
e saracini e idolatri e da nostri conyertiti, che sono grandi baroni 
ffuardando solo a la persona del Signore, e tuttl mi dissono per una 
bocca che giucolatori sono xiii tumani (il tumane 6 x^i ) e quelli che 
guardano e nudriscono i can! e bestie e uccelli da cacciagioni sono 
xym di tumani, si che tra giucolari e costoro sono xxyiiii^ di tumani.' 
8i che montano in tuto cclxxx migliaia d'uomini. I medici che 

rftrdono la persona sono cccc idolatri, ed otto cristiani e i saracino.* 
tutti costoro anno cid ch*^ loro necessario dalla corte del signore. 
L'altra sua famiglia ^ sanza noyero. 

39. Ikl modo nd quale eavaUa ogni anno il Oran Cane di Camhalu. 

Lo signore Gran Cane dimora nel tempo della istate in una terra che 
si chiama Sandau, la quale e sotto tramontana, ed d la piii fredda terra 
ad abitare del mondo e di yemo dimora in questa cittk Chanbalu che 
detta d. Quando il signore cayalca da una terra k un*altra, cayalca 
in questo modo. Egli a iy eserciti di cayalieri. Tuna gli ya innanzi 
un di; Taltra un altro di; e *1 terzo dope un aJtro dl; e *1 quarto il 
quarto d); ed egli sempre yane in mezzo, a modo di croce e gli 
aserciti detti sempre gli yano d*intorno, e catuno gli ya di lunge una 
giomata e andando sempre ano la loro giomata ordinata nelia quale 
truoyano tutte queste cose che sono loro necesarie a mangiare. La 
gente che ya con questo signore ya sempre per lo detto modo, ed egli 
yane sopra un carro sopra due mote, sopra it quale e fatta una bella 
sala tutta di legni d' aloe, ch' h tanto odorifero e prezioso, ed anche 
d*oro ^ omata, e di perle e di pietre preziose. £ questo carro menano 

y leo&nti * e sopra il carro porta xii girfalchi. In quelle seden- 

dosi si yede alcuni uccelli sigli lascia andare. £ nullo h oso d'ap- 
pressarsi al carro a una gittata di pietra, se non se quest i diputati 
a queste cose. £ cosi ya questo signore, e cosi yanno le mogli nello 
grade e '1 sue figliuolo primogenito. Onde h cosa incredibile a immaginare 
la, grande gente ch* ane questo signore. Quelli iy eserciti che yanno 
con lui sono y tumani, e catuno tumane e x°^ ; e tutta questa gente 
anno dal signore cid ch* h loro necessario ; e se nullo di costoro [sia] pre- 
sented d rimesso un altro in luogo di cestui ; si che rimane intero il numero.' 

B^appressBse senza lioenza del capitano sarebbe amuramente battnto ; which 
i$ a misundentanding of the matter (see note on transl. in loco.) 

^ Mm. Ram. qnindeoi mils. 

' In Frati minori che vi hanno il monastero: che dove dalla oorte vi 

yeniya tanta robba, che sarebbe state bastante per mille frati. £ per lo Dio 
yero e taata differenza da qnesti Signore a qnesti d'ltalia, come da nn uomo 
richessimo ad un cbe sia il pid povero del mondo. 

* The two last figures, etc., are in the MS. xvm and xxviiim. 

* MiN. Rax. qnali non si soemano ne aumentano, ma morti I'ano, in sao 
loco si mette I'altro. ' Defective and unintelligible. 

* Meaning f if any one is not present f But below we have nulla novila/or 
any news. 

' Here Min. Ram. has a long passage peculiar to it. Le bestie poi di tante 



APPENDIX II. lix 



40. Come e davuo ritnperio del Cane et come son parati oepizii per li 

trapoManti. 

Questo signore Gran Cane lo suo imperio d doviso in zii parti, e catuna 
si chiama Siglo.* L'una di queste parti h il Manzi, ch' ave sotto di se 
iim grandi cittadi. Onde ene a sapere che '1 suo imperio h si ffrande cho 
ben vi mesi si pena ad andare per lungo e per traverso sanza 1 isole che 
Bono ym, che non si pongono nel detto novero.' E ave fatto per tutto il 
suo imperio fare case e cortili per li trapasanti, le quali case si chiamano 
uman.' Nolle quali case sono tutto quelle cose ch* a necessaria alia vita 
dell' uomo. £ quando nulla novitk viene nel suo imperio incontinente 
gli mesaggi corrono in su camelli, e se U fatto porta pondo montano in 
su dromedradi, e *ncontinente che s' appressano a questa [jam] suonano 
un como e *ncontinente uno s' apparecchia e yane instno a 1' altro jam 
e portale quelli rimane e cosi va 1* altro al simigliante modo. E per 
questo modo in un di naturale a noTelle di x giomate dalla lunga. 
Anche y* ane un altro modo di quelli che corrono. E le case di questi 
corrieri si chiamano chidebo, e stanno corrieri per queste case, ed anno 
una cinghia di campanelle. E Tuna casa a raltra ene dilunge tre 
miglia, ma quella de corrieri de' gamelli xz miglia. £ quando s' appressa 
a una di queste case incontinente comincia a sonare queste campanelle, 
e quel altro ch' h nella casa s'apparecchia, e corre insino a Taltra casa, 
e cosi Tunc a I'altro, insin che giungono oy* ene il signore. Onde nulla 
si pud fare nel suo imperio che 'ncontinente nol sapia, come detto ^. 

41. DeHa caedagione ddgran Cane, 

Quando il gran Cane Yane a cacciare fuori di Chanbalu, a Yenti 
giornate ene un gran bosco, che gira ben Yii giomate. £ tante b^stie 
saWatiche quivi couYersono ch* h marayiglia. Intomo al bosco istanno 
guardie che *1 guardano per lo signore. £ 'n capo di tre o di quattro 
anni il signore yi ya colla sua gente, il quale intomiano tutto quanto 
questo bosco. Poi lasciano andare i cani per terra e gli ucelli in aria, 
roi si yengono ristriguendo insieme e conducono tutte queste bestie in 
un piano ch* d nel mezzo. £ leoni e parugiani^ e cerbi e molte altre 

sorti strane sono infinite che lui tiene. Fra qnali erano sei cavalli chehaveano 
sei piedi e sei gambi per uno : e viddi duo grandessimi struzzi e dui piccoli 
dietro di loro con dai colli per ciascuno, e dui teste dalle quali raangiavano ; 
senza far roentiooe di altri huomini salvatichi che stanno nello giardino di 
detto signore, e donne tutte pelose di un pelo grande e bigio, quali han forma 
humana, e si pascono di poma e d' altre bevande che gli ordina il Signore che 
se gli dia. Fra quali erano huomini non piii grandi di dui spanue, e questi 
chiamano Qomiti, Nella oorte bo yisto huomini di un ocobio nella fronte, 
che si obiamaTano minocohi. Eta quel tempo farono appresentati al Signore 
dui, un masohio ed una femmioa, quali havevano una spanna di busto, colla 
testa grossa, e le gambe lunghe e seoza roani, e s' imboccavano con uno de* 
piedi* £ Tiddi un gigante, grande circa 20 piedi che mena?a dui leoni, Pun 
rosso e V altro nero, e Paltro haveva in guardia leonesse e leopardi, e con ai 
fatte bestie andava il SiKnore a far caecia a prender oern, oaprioli, lupi,oingiali, 
orsi ed altre bestie selvatiohe. 

^ Probably for Single or Sing. 

' MiN. Rah. £ tI sono proposti quattro che govemano 1' imperio di questo 
gran Signore. £ ciasouna persona che facendo Tiaggio passa per quei paesi, 
di qual condition sia, e ordinato che per dui pasti che fa non paghi nulla. 

> For iam a$ below ; Min. Ram. Per tutto il paesa yi sono torn altissimi 
doYe sono assaissime guardie, etc. ^ (?) 



be APPENDIX 11. 

bestie ch* ene incredibile. £ son tanto le grida di quelli uccelli e cani 
che Tuno novo intende Taltro, si che tutte le bestie salvatiche che 
trieman di paura.* AUora il Gran Cane yiene sopra tre leofanti, e aaetta 
tra queste bestie cinque turcassi di saette e com* egli saetta cosi fa tutta 
la sua compagnia il simigliante. £ catuno signore are un suo segnale 
nella sua saetta, Allora lo signore fane chiamare Sio! ciod Misericordia! 
a quelle bestie, e *ncontinente quelle bestie che son vive si dipartono. 
Allora vengono i baroni e truoyano le loro saette e caiuno prende quella 
bestia ch' k morta la sua saetta. Per questo modo si fane la sua 
cacciagione. 

42. Delle quattro FetU che tiene ogrC anno U Oran Cane. 

Ancora questo imperadore gran Cane fane ogni anno iiii gran feate. 
lia prima h il prime dl di Febraio, la seconda il cQ de la sua natiyitade.' 
£ conyita e fa yenire tutti i suoi baroni e bufoni e giucolari, e tut to suo 
parentado, e tutti si pongono ordinati. £ spezialmente a quella di 
Febraio e a quella della natiyitik tutti i baroni yanno con corone in capo, 
e lo *mperadore siede in della sua sedia come detto h adietro, e tutti i 
baroni. Ciascuno ista nel suo lato; e sono tre diyisata di baroni. I 
primi sono yestiti di yerde ; i secondi di sanguigno ; i terzi d'azurro, e 
tutti sono incoronati e anno in mano una tayola di dente di leofante, e le 
cinture tutte d*oro e larghe bene un somesso, e tengono silenzio e 
'ntorno a loro istanno i giucolari con sue insegne e bandiere. £ in uno 
poggicciuolo oy' ^ un grande palagio dimorano i filosofi guardando certi 
punti.' Quando yiene quel pun to uno grida altamente saliziati (?) ciod 
mchinateyi al signore. Allora tutti i baroni danno del capo in terra 
com' h loro usanza quando inchinano. Allora quel medesimo grida 
leyateyi e allora si levano tutti. Ancora questi filosofi guardono a certi 
punti, e allora quegli grida, Poneteyi il dito n'el' orecchie ! e poi dice 
Cayatene ! Allora istanno un poco e dicono, Buratate farina ! e molti 
altri segni stolti, e dicono che tutti sono grandi segni. £ poi sono 
ufficiali che richeggiono i baroni e giucolari e se alcuno yene fallo, cade 
in grande pena. £ filosofi quando yiene il punto e I'ora dicono a 
giucolari, Fate festa al Signore; e quelli incontinente cominciano a sonare 
gli stormenti ; ed d si grande il romore ch' ^ quasi uno isturbamento. 
Allora dice una boca, Tutti tacete. Allora tutti taciono, Allora tutti quelli 
del parentado s'apparecchiano di cayalli bianchi. Allora comincia a gridare 
una yoce, Cotali di cotal parentado s* apparecchia di cotante migliaia o yero 
centinaia di cayalli ! Allora sono certi apparecchiati certi che menano i 
cayalli apparecchiati al signore, ch* h incredibile di tanti cayalli bianchi 
quanti gli donono. £ allora sono tutti famigliari che portano presenti al 
signore da parte degli altri baroni. £ allora tutti i principi di munistero 
yengono con.doni, e donagli la loro benedizione, e quel medesimo conyiene 
fare a noi altri frati minorL £ fatte queste giucolaresche cose yengono 

1 MiN. RAM.'Quivi e si forte il gridar delle gente, Tabbaiar de' cani, Tulular 
delle fiere, e '1 sonar de' corni e I'altri stromenti, che le povere fiere assalite 
da teroa grande, ed horror di morte che porta seco, e lo presenti stato che 
versa negli oochi delle infelid bestie, e 1 ricordarsi delle altre volte che vi 
sono incappate, che fa tremare oome debole canna e non ben ferma, percossa 
di erudelissimi e yiolentissimi soffiar di Borea o d' Aquilone ! Le quali veo- 
gone uccisi quasi per tema. 

^ MiN. Bah. La prima fe per il dl della sua nativiti : la seconda h della 
incoronatione sua: la terza h del matrimonio quando meno per moglie la 
regina : la quarta h della nativitli del suo primogenito figluiolo. 

' Id. Non 80 che punti, o di stelle o di pianete. 



APPENDIX II. 1X1 

alcuno altro giucolare dinanzi al signore e cantano molto maraTigliosa* 
mente, e alcuno altro menano con seco leoni che fanno reverenza a lo *m* 
peradore e questi giucolari fanno yenire per aria nappi d'oro pieni di buon 
vinoy e cosi vanno a le bocche d'ogni uomo che yuol here. E questo modo 
fanno, e molte altre cose dinanzi al signore. A dire la grandezza, e le 
gran cose della corte di cestui sarebbe cosa incredibile se no le vedese. 
Kiuno si marayigli se fa grandi ispese perd che nel sue regno no si 
iapende altra moneta che di carta, che no gli costa nulla, e a le sue mani 
▼iene tutto tesoro. 

43. Una maraviglia del popone che contiene una bettiuola. 

Un* altra maraviglia vi dird sua la quale io non yidi, ma udiela dire a 
persona degna di fede. Alcuni dicono che Ohadli ene un gran regno, e 
qui sono monti che si chiamano monti Oaspeos, ne' quali dicono che 
nascono poponi grandissimi, ne' quali poponi quando sono maturi s' aprono 
per lore istessi, e truoyavisi entro una bestiuola grande, e fatta a modo 
d' uno agnello ; si che ano quella carne a ano il popone. Questo pud 
essere altresi bene si com' ene ne reame d' Inghilterra o di Scozia che 
dicono che sono albori che fanno uccelletti.* 

44. Dd reanu dd Presto Giovanni ed altre corUraU. 

Partendomi dal Chataio e yenendo yerso il ponente cinquanta giomate, 
passando cittadi e castella yenni nolle terre del Presto Gioyanni, e non i 
delle cento parti Tuna quelle che si dice di lui. La prencipale cittade 
di lui si chiama Casan, ch' ene Vincienza maggiore cittade di quella, e 
molte altre cittadi ^ sotto di se, e sempre per patto piglia per moglie la 
figliuola del Gran Cane. Poi andando per molte giomate peryeni a una 
proyincia che si chiama Ghansi. Questa h la seconda migliore provincia 
e la meglio abitata ch* abbia il mondo. £ oy' ella d piii stretta d larga 
ben 1 giomate, e lunga piil di Ix giomate. Ed h si bene abitata che 
quando s' esce della porta de V una cittode si yede le mura dell' altra 
cittade. Nella quale a grande copia di yittuaglia e spezialmente di 
castagne. In questa proyincia nasce il mal barbaro, ed ayeue tanto che 
per meno di yi grossi se ne caricherebbe un asino. Ed d questa pro- 
yincia una delle xii ch' ane il gran Cane. 

45. Dd regno di Tibet dove si tniova U Papa degli Holatri, 

Passando questa proyincia grande peryeni a un altro gran regno che 
si chiama Tibet, en' ene ne confini d' India ed e tutta al gran Cane. 
Quiyi ^ maggior copia di pane e di yino che in nulla parte del mondo. 
£ la gente di questa contrada dimora in tende che sono fatte di feltri 
neri. La prencipale cittade h fatta tutta di pietre bianche e nere, e 
tutte le yie lastricate. In questa cittade nullo ardisce a spander sangue 
d'uomo di femmina, o d' altra bestia. Questo fanno per reyerenza 
d'un lore idolo. In questa cittade dimora il Atassi,' che yiene a dire in 
nostro modo il Papa. £d h capo di tutti idolatrici. Questi distribuisce 
da tutti i benifici e partegli tra lore secondo la lore legge. Ed ane in 
questo regno questa usanza che le femmine portano in capo piil di c 
paia di trecce ayendo ii denti lunghi'a modo di porco saWatico. Ed d 
ancora cotale usanza in questa contrada che quando il padre d'alcuuo 

> MiN. Rah. says Uo di fra gli altri viddi una bestia grande come un agnello 
etc. And here thai version stops, 
3 For Abassi. ^ Lunghi^ I think. 



Ixii APPENDIX II. 

more, e *1 fijcHuolo gli toI fare grande onore, convita e rauna tutti i 
Bacerdoti e religiosi e giucolari e vicini e pareDti e portano il corpo a Is 
campagna con gran festereccia ; e quivi h apparecchiato un gran desco, 
e quaudo t* d posto suso e Bacerdoti gli mozzano il capo, e danno al 
figliuolo. E poi il tagliano tutto a pexzi, e '1 figliuolo con tutta la 
compagnia cantano e cessandou quindi un pezzo fanno orazionL Allora 
vengono aguglie e avoltoi de' monti e ciascuno piglia il suo pezzo. 
Allora gridano e dicono Yedete che santo uomo questi fu, che vengono 
gli angeli per lui, e portanelo in paradise ! Poi il figliuolo se ne porta 
il capo e mangialo cotto poi del teschio fa fare un vaso e mangiano e 
beono con esse tutti quelli della casa con grande divozione. Piu altre 
Bozze UBanze Bono tra quelli pagani d*oriente le quali non dice. 

46. D^un ricco popolano d% Maim, 

Nell a provincia de Manzi veni ad uno palagio d*un uomo popolano la 
cui yita ene in questo modo. E tiene cinquanta donzelle Tergini, le 
quali il Bervono. Quando viene a mangiare ogni vivanda o 'mbandigfoni 
Bi portano y delle donzelle predette con molti istormenti di diyerse 
maniere, e cantano e del contiDuo cantano mentre che la yiyanda e 
nanzi. Poi costoro Bi partono e altre cinque delle dette donzelle si 
yengono col* altra yiyanda, e 'mbastigione e con altri diyersi istormenti e 
con diyersi canti e per ^uesto modo mena la sua yita. Questo signore k di 
rendita zxx tumani tagiai* di riBO. II tumano h numero di x>n ; e *1 tegiar h 
soma d^asino. E '1 cortile del suo palagio gira ben ii miglia e '1 palazzo h 
fatto inquesto modo, che Tunc mattone o yero pietra h d^oro e I'altro 
d*ariento. Nel cortil dentro aye un monte d*oro e d'argento, sopra il quale 
son fatti monasteri e campanili per suo diletto. E dicesi che tra questi 
Manzi sono iiii<> uomini per lo modo di cestui. Gli uomini di questo 
paese tengono per nobiltk ad ayere lunghe Tunghia, e la bellezza della 
femmina d*ayere piccioli piedi. Perd quando nasce la femmina le madri 
istringono loro i piedi, a cid che non crescono lore piii che yogliono. 

47. Dd Vecchio della Montagna, 

Partendomi delle terre del Presto Gioyanni, yeneudo yerso ponente, 
yeni a una contrada che si chiama Mileser,^ bella e abondeyole d*ogni 
bene. Nella quale si dicea che sole istare il Vecchio della montagna. 
Egli ayea fatto tra due monti un cercuito di muro, e dentro le piil belle 
fonti del mondo. £ dentro eran poste donze* yergini belle le piii del mondo, 
e cayalli bellissimi, e tutte quelle cose che potessono dilettare corpo umano. 
E facea dire che questo era paradise; e quando yedea un gioyane yaloroso 
si lo metea in questo luogo; nel quale facea andare yino e latte per condotto: 
e quando yolea fare uccidere alcun re o barone, facea dire al Boprastante di 

2uel luogo ch' egli facesse yenire il piii atto e amoroso a diletti e nel dimoro 
i questo paradise, e quelli allora' daya beyeraggi a quel cotale, che '1 facea 
fortemente adormentare; e cosi doimendo nel facea trare. E quelli 
risentendosi e troyandosi fuori di questo luogo era in grande tristizia e 
dolore, e pregaya a quel signore che yel facesse ritomare. E allora gli 
dicea, Vo tu ritomare, yane e uccidi il cotale uomo poi ci ritomerai, o 
campi muoi. E 'n questo modo facea uccidere chiunque e yolea. 
Per la qual cosa era temuto da tutti i re d' oriente, e mandayagli 
tribute. E 'n questo modo facea uccidere molti de' Tartari quando 
yenieno pigliando il mondo. Per la qual cosa yi yenono a oste e puo- 

1 For tagar. ^ Probably Milebet originaUy. 



APPENDIX II. Lriii 

sonyi I'assedio e mai non se ne partiro infino che non ebbero la cittade 
e *1 yecchio e fecioUo morire di mala morte. 

48. DeUa grazia cK' anno % Frati Minori ndla Tartaria. 

In questa eontrada a Iddio data questa grazia a^ frati minori che 
nella Qrande Tartaria cosi anno per niente di cacciare un demonio 
d'un oorpo d'uomo, come di cacciare un can di casa. Molti ve ne sono 
in demoni. E se Bono di lunge ben x giornate si gli menano a' frati e al 
comandamento loro dalla parte di Jesilt incontinente si partono yia le 
demonia. E poi quelli che sono liberati si fanno battezzare, e frati 
prendono i loro idoli di feltro che quegli anno, e colla croce vanno e 
portagli al fuoco. E quelli della contnda tutti tragono a yedere. E 
ridolo salta del fuoco e frati tolgono aqua benedetta e prizalla nel fuoco 
e le demonia escono del fuoco, e frati yi rimettono entro Tidolo, e 
*ncontinente arde. E '1 demonio grida in aria, lo sono cacciato della 
mia abitazione ! E per questo modo i nostri frati ne battezzano molti. 

49. D^a Voile TerribHe. 

Un' altra terribil cosa viddi andando per una yalle posta sopra il fiume 
delle delizie. Vidi in questa yalle molti corpi morti e yidi di diyersi 
istormenti che quiyi pareano che sonasono, onde qui era tanto timore e 
paura che non si potrebbe dire. Questa yalle I lunga da otto miglia, 
nella quale qui y' entra incontinente muore. Kella quale io yolli entrare 
per yedere quelle che questo era, ed entrandoyi troyai molti corpi morti, 
ed d cosa incredibile era ad immaginare qiuint' egli erano in questa 
yalle. In sul monte troyai una testa d'uomo morto tanta terribile che 
mi mise si gran paura che parea che lo spirito si* yolesse partire da me. 
E [in] questa paura sempre andaya dicendo, Yerbo caro factum est, 
etc. Poi montai sopra un monte renoso e guardando d'ogni parte non 
yidi niente, se non se che molte nacchere udia; e quando fui in capo del 
monte troyai tanto argento a modo quasi come uno iscogliame di pesce 
in grande quantity. Del quale niente presi, e cosi sanza alcun danno 
mi parti. E per questa cagione tutti i saracini m* ayeano in grande 
reyerenza, dicendo ch* io era battezzato e santo, e quelli ch' erano morti 
in questa yalle erano istati uomini del diayolo de lo 'nfemo. 

Finita la diceria difrate Oderigo. Deo grdzias / 

51. Atteitazione del Fr, Odorico. 

Io frate Oderigo da Frigolli, d'una terra che si chiama porto maoni, 
dell* ordine de frati minori testifico, e rispondo al mio monistero* per yera 
ubidizione che tutte queste cose iscritte in questo memoriale o io le yidi 
io r udi dire a uomini degni di fede e dal cummune parlare delle 
contrade. Onde quelle che non yidi sapiate che yere sono. Altre molte 
cose lascio, e no le iscriyo che chi non le yedese non le crederebbe. E di 
d) in di m' apparecchio di tornare in quelle contrade^ e mi dispongo di 
finire mia yita. Deo grazias, Amen, amen, amen. 

1 For Ministro. 



APPENDIX III. 



TRANSCRIPT FROM THE ORIGINAL MS. OF THE 
FIRST TWO CHAPTERS OF PEGOLOTTI. 



CAP. I. 

Avixamento dd viaggi4> dd OhaUaio per lo chanmino ddla Tana ad 
andare e Uornare chon merehatantia» Primieramente d&Ua Tana in 
Qintarchan sia zxv giomate di charro di buoi e chon carro di chavallo 
circa da x in xii giornate. Per chanmino si troyano mocoholi assai cioe 
^ente d arma e da Qittarchan in Sara sia una giomata per fiumana 
dacqua et di Sara in Sarachancho sia 8 giornate per una fiumana dacqua 
e puotesi andare per terra e peracqua ma vassi peracqua per meno spesa 
della merchatantia. £ da Sarachancho in fino in Orghanci sia xx 
giomate di charro di chanmello e chi va chon marchantia gli conviene 
che yada in Orghanci pareche la h spacciativa terra di marchatautia. E 
d* Orghanci in Oltrarre sia da 35 in 40 giornate di chanmello chon oarro 
e chi si partisse di Sarachanco e andasse dritto in Oltrarre si ra L giomate 
e segli non a^esse merchatantia gli sarcbbe migliore via che dandare in 
Orghanci. £ di choltrarre in Armaleccho sia 45 giomate di some dasino 
e ogni die truovi moccholi. £ dArmaleccho infino in Ohamexu sia 70 
giomate dasino et di Ohamexu in sino che yieni a una fiumana che si 

chiama sia xly giomate di chayallo e dalla fiumana se ne puoi 

andare in Chassai ella yendere sonmi dellargento che ayessi, perocche lae 
e spacciatiya terra di merchantia. £ di Chassai si ya cholla muneta 
chessi trae de sonmi dellargento yenduti in Chassai che h moneta di charta 
chessappella la detta moneta babisci che gli quattro di quel la moneta 
yagliono un sonmo dariento per le contrade del Ghattaijo. £ di Chassai 
a Ohamalecco che h la mastra cittk del paese del Ghattaijo si ya 30 
giornate. 

CAP. II. 

Co8e bixognevole a MerchatarUi eke voglionofare U sopradeUo viaggio 
del Ghattaijo, Primieramente chonyiene che si lasci crescere la barba 
grande et non si rada. £ yuolsi fomire alia Tana di Turcimanni e non si 
yuole guardare a rispiarmo dal chattiyo al buono nonchosta quella din- 
gordo chelluomo non se ue megliori yi ya piu. £ oltre a Turcimanni si 

* Sic in orig. 



APPENDIX III. IXV 

choDviene menare per lo mono duefanti buoui chessapianobenela lingua 
CumaDesca e sse il merchatante vuole menare dalla Tana niuna fenmina 
chon secho si puote e sse nolla Tuole menare non fa forza mappure se la 
menasse sara tenuto di miglior choiidizione che se nolla menasse e pero 
sella mena chonviene che sappia la lingua Chumanesca chome il fante. 
£ dalla Tana infino in Gittarchan si chonviene fornire di yiyanda 25 di 
cioe di farina e di pesci insalati perocche charne truova assai per 
chanmino in tutti i luoghi. E ssimilmente in tutti i luoghi che vai da 
uno paexe a un altro nel detto viaggio sechondo le giomate detfce di sopra 
si chonviene fornire di farina e di pesci insalati che altre chose truovi assai 
e spezialmente charne. 

II chanmino dandare dalla Tana al Ohattajo h sichurissimo e di di e 
di notte sechondo che ssi chonta pergli merchatanti che Ihanno uzato 
salvo se il merchatante che va o che viene morisse in chanmino ogni 
chosa sarebbe del singnore del paexe ove morisse il merchatante e tutto 
prenderebbono gli uficiali del singnore. £ ssimilmente se morisse al 
Ohattajo veramente segli avesse suo fratello o stretto chompangno che 
dicesse che fusse suo fratello si gli sarebbe date lavere del morto e 
cbonperebbesi in questo modo lavere. £ ancora va un altro pericholo 
cioe che quando lo singnore morisse insino che non fusse chiamato laltro 
singnore che dovesse singnoreggiare in quelle mezzo alchuna volta ve 
stata fatta novitade a Ffranchi e ad altre stranee genti. I Franchi ap- 
pellaneglino tutti i christiani delle parti di Romania innanzi in verso il 
ponente. £ non chorre sichuro il chanmino infino che non d chiamato 
laltro singnore che dee regnare appresso di quelloche d morto. 

II Ghattajo si ^ una Provincia dove a molte terre e molte chasall in fra 
laltre si a una cioe la mastra cittade ove riparano merchatanti e ove si fa 
il forza della merchatantia la quale eittade si chiama Chambaleccho. £ 
la detta cittade gira cento miglia ed h tutta plena di gente e di magione 
e di abitanti nella detta cittade. 

Ragionasi che un merchatante chon uno Turcimanno e con due fanti 
e con avere della valuta di xxv miglia di Fiorini doro spenderebbe infino 
al Ghattajo da Ix in Ixxx sonmi dargento volendo fare masserizia e per 
tutto il chanmino da ttomare dal Ghattajo ala Tana chontando spese di 
boccha e ssalario di fanti e tutte spese intomo a cio sonmi v alia soma o 
meno e puote valere il sonmo da fiorini cinque doro. £ ragionasi chel 
carro debbe menare pure uno hue e del charro x cantara di genova el 
charro di chanmelli mena 3 chanmeli e del charro 30 cantari di Genova e 
il carro de chavalli mena lo chavallo e del charro cantara 6^ genovesche 
di seta communalmente da libre 250 genovesche e uno scibetto di seta si 
ragiona da libre 110 in 115 genovesche. 

Raggionasi che dalla Tana in Sara sia meno sichuro il chanmino che 
non e tutto laltro chanmino ma segli fussono 60 uomini quando il 
chanmino e in piggiore chonditione andrebbe bene sichuro come per la 
casa sua. 

Chi volesse muovere da Genova o da Yinegia per andare al detto luogo 
e viaggio del Ghattajo portasse tele e andasse in Organci ne farebbe bene 
e in Organci chonperasse sonmi e andasse chon essi avanti sanca investire 
in altra merchatantia seggik nonavesse alquante balle di tele molto 
Bottilissime che tengono piccholo inbuglio e non vogliono piu di spesa, 
che vogliono altre tele piu grosse. 

£ possono i Mercanti cavalcare per lo chanmino o chavallo o asino o 
quella cavalcatura che place lore di cavalcare. 

Tutto largento che i merchatanti portano e che va al Ghattajo il 
Singnore del Ghattajo lo fa piffliare per se e mettelo in suo texoro e mer- 
chatanti che lui portano ne gui lore moneta di pappiero cioe di charta 



Ixvi APPENDIX III. 

gialla choniata della bolU del detto Singnore la quale moneta aapella 
palucj della qual moneta puoi e ttruoYi chonperare seta ed ognaltra mer- 
chatantia e C08a che chonperare Yoleese e tutti quelli del paeze sono 
tenuti di prenderla e gia pero non si cosi sopra choDpera la xnerchatantia 
perche sia moneta di pappiero. £ della detta moneta di pappiero ne Bono 
dl tee ragioni che luna si mette per piu che laltra secondo che sono or- 
dinate a valuta per lo Singnore. 

£ ragionasi che al Ghattajo arai da libre 19 in 20 di seta Ghattaja 
recato a peso di GtenoTa per uno sonmo d*argento che puote pesare da 
once 8^ di Qenova ed ^ di lega d once lie denari 17 fine per liobra. 

£ ragionasi che aval al Ghattajo da 3 in 3^ peaate di chanmoccha di 
seta per uno sonmo e da 3^ in sino in 5 pease di naochetti di seta e doro 
per uno sonmo dargento. 



INDEX TO "CATHAY AND THE WAY THITHER/' 



Aab (The Alaos), 817, 818 

Abaka Kban of Persia, 2M 

Abano, Peter of, 167; 824; his refer- 
ence to M. Polo, ib. 

Abaaci, 848 ; see Abyt$inia, 

Abassi, (The G. Lama), 149 

Abasaide Khalifa, 100 

Abbeys of the Idolaters (Baddhist), 
242 

iD Scotland and England, 807 

Abbott, Col. James, clxzxv, 232 

Abbreviations nsed in reference to 
HSS. and editions of Odorio, 41 ; 
in reference to books quoted, 
cexxxTii teqq. 

Abdullah, Shaikh— the Traveller, 896 

■ Isai, Travelling name of 

Goes, 502 

Khan, of Bokhara, 009 



Abdnl Bashid Khan, 048 
Abdarrazzak's History, oxl, oxcix, 460 
Abdereh. Pass of, 098 4 
Abgams of fidessa, 801 
Ab-i-Haiyah, Great Biver of China, 

477 
Ab.i.siya, {KaU-Nadi), 414 
Abohar, 406 
Abraham, cast into the Fire, Legend 

of, 64 
Abnbakr Khan of Kashgar, 046 
Abn Dulif, see Ibn Mohalhal. 

— I8hak, Shrine of Shaikh, at 
Kazernn, ccli, 487 

Abnlfang, Mahomed, xcvi 
Abnl Fazl, 081 

bnlfeda, Notices of China, cxv, oxciii 
Abasaid Khan of Persia, 49, 288, 244, 

204, 299, 499 

son of Ynnua Khan of 

Eastern Chagatai, 046 

Abn Zaid of Siraf, cii, cvi 

Abyssinia, olxx ; Transfer of Prester 

John stories to, 182 ; many Kings 

sabjeot to Emperor of, id., 190; 

Power of the King to divert the 

Kile, 848 ieq. 
Achin, the name of, cxx, 101 
Aconsersec, 071 



Acsarai, 233 

Acta Sanctomm, Extracts from Odorio 

in, 87 
Actam, 00 

'Adalif coin so called, ccxlviii aeqq. 
Adam, buried in Hebron, 870 
Adam's Garden in Ceylon, 860; 
House in Ceylon, 808, 867; Peak 
(Odorio), 98, (Marifrnolli), 808, 
( Ibn Batuta ), 422-8 ; Footmark on, 
308-4-8 ; First Ascent of, 809 

Aden, a seat of China Trade, Jxxix; 
Ibn Batuta at, 899; Water cisterns 
at, ih, 

AduUi clxix $eqq.f dxxix 

Agau, in Abyssinia, dxx 

Agiasi, 070 

Agila, the word, 472; see Aloet wood, 

Agitarcham {Aitraean), 288, 387 

Ahmed Shah Durani, 042 

Abmedabad, 082 

Aiazzo, Aias, 280, 299 

Aidhab, cczxviii, 398 

Aingharan (Ahangharan), 008, 096 

Ajal, Sayad, 260 

Ajudin, 406 

Akbar ; Jesuits at Court of, 080; Lean- 
ings to Christianity and Wavering, 
081; religious eclecticism, 032; in- 
quiries about Cathay, 034; expedi- 
tion to Dekkan and views on Goa, 
080 ; aids the mission of Goes, ib. 
and 002; withdrawal from beyond 
Hindu Kush, 042 

Akehi (Turk, coin), 8()0 

Aksu, cli, ccxvii ; position of, ccxxxii, 
045, 046, 071-2 

Alabandinum, clxxviii 

Ala/a, the word, 2228 

Al-AhsB, AlHa8a,orLah8a (P.Gulf), 
216,219,400 

Ala-Knl, Lake in Tartary, oxii-iii 

Alans, dxvi; first information about 
them, 816; after history, called 
Aiu and Aai, 817; identified with 
Ossethi, but this is disputed ; 
MarignoUi's account of them, 878 ; 
their appearance as Christians in 

/2 



..■w ^ Try 



Ixviii 



INDEX. 



the Mongol service in GhiDS, zcix, 
ozzxi, 138, 316.318, 336; Letters 
from Chiefs of, at Peking, to the 
Pope, 313.14; Their names and 
attempt to explain them, ib. 

Ala- Tan, ccxiii 

Al-Azrak {Blue River), 517 

Al-Bimni ; superior knowledge of 
India, zlv, olxxxiv ; cxciii 

Albizsi ; see Bartholomew. 

Albaqnerqae contemplates diversion 
of Nile, 349 

Al-Bnshri, a Ceutan in China, 397, 
494 

Aloeghet, 571 

Aleppo, 351 

Alexander the Great, said to have 
founded cities in China, li; legends 
of doings in India, 57, 344 : column 
set np by at World's end, ccxlvi ; 
344 

Alexander, Pope, Letter from, to a 
Christian King in the Indies, 175 

Alexandria, 398 

Alexins I Comnenns, Embassy of to 
China, Ixv 

Ali Shah of Laknaoti, odi, 459-60 

Alisolda; see 

Ali Sultan Khan of Cbagatai, 187-8-9 

Al.Katif, 219, 400 

Alia Apoitolica, 369 

Al-Maid, cz 

Almalig, Almalik, ccxiii, cczlv; its 
position, 236, 338; martyrdom of 
Franciscans at, 186 teqq.; Bishop 
of, ib.; 172, 235, 238, 288, 296, 321, 
337, 338, 522, 548 

Aloes wood, 469; described, 471; 
different kinds, 472 

Alphonso XI, 427 

Al Ramni (Sumatra), oiii: see Lambri. 

Alum mines of Phocasa Nova, 1 96 

Al-Wakin, cix 

Amacao {Macao) , 582 

Ambassadors threatened with death 
for refusing to kotow, Ixxxi 

Amburan (Mango), 362 

** Amir, A Great,** meaning of expres- 
sion, 417, 446 

Ammianus Marcellinus on the Seres, 
xl : the passages extracted, clviii 

Amulets rendering invulnerable, 93 

Anan-jesus, Patriarch of Nestorian 
Church, xciii 

Anbar and 'Anah on Euphrates, 503 

Anohediva, 416, 451 

Andaman Islands, civ, 101 

Andarab, 403, 595 

Andean, ozliz 

Andrada's Voyage to China, czli 



Andrew the Frank, envoy from Great 

Khan to the Pope, 313 14 
of Perugia, appointed a Bishop 

to Cathay, 170, 171, 248; letter 

from, cxxzii, 183, 2'^2; another of 

the name, 183 
Aodronicus Senior, 403 
Andrutius of Assisi, appointed Bishop 

to Cathay, 170; dies on the way, 

171,225 
Anjuraan, Pass of, 593 
Ankolah, 450 
Ankuah, chief dty of Sila {Japan) 

cvi 
Antartic, 211 
Antidote, strange, 91 
Antiphonarium, 201 
Antipodes ridiculous and incredible, 

xlviii, 385 
Antu (Antioch), Ivi, coxli 
Apollonius with the Braehmans, 143 
Apoitolorum, ad modumt 369 
Aquaviva, Rudolf, 531 
Arabic terms in Italian, see ecxlvii 
Arabs, Chinese intercourse with the, 

Ixxvii, and see Table of Contents ; 

pillage Canton, Ixxx, Ixxxii ; pillage 

Loyang, Ixxxii 
Aramuth, 578 
Ararat, 47 
Arbil {Arbela), a metropolitan see of 

NeHtoriaus, ccxliv 
Arbor Secco, 47, 48 
Archbishops, of Socotra, 168; of the 

Nestorians, ocxliii, 179; appointed 

by the Pope to Cambalec, 170 »eqq; 

of Soltania, 189, 190, 238 ; of 

Armagh, 331 ieq. 
Aren palm, 91 
Arequipa Desert, Sounding sands in, 

ccxliii 
Argellion (coco-nut), clxxvi 
Argun Khan of Persia, 166 ; letter 

from in French Archives, cxxx 
Arias Saldanha, Viceroy of Portuguese 

India, 550 
Ariosto on Terrestrial Paradise, 327 
Arkaun (Asiatic Christians), 204 
Armagh, Fitz Ralph, Archbishop of, 

331 seqq.; letter from, 332 
Armalec, Armalecco, see Almalip, 
Armenia and Persia, etc., intercourse 

with China of, Ixxxii ; see Table of 

Contents. 
Armenia, kingdom of Lesser, 280 
Armenian families of Chinese origin, 

Ixxxiu 
Arrauza, 56 
Amobius on Christianity among the 

Seres, Ixzxix 



INDEX. 



Ixix 



Arnold of Cologne, a Friar in Cathay, 

173, 108 
Arts, Chinese skill in the, 482 
Ante Haris (the Rhinoceros), olxxiii 
Arya Chakntvarti, 422 
Arzerone, Arziron {Erzrum)^ 46, 800 
Ascension Feast at Venice, 104 
Asciar, Lord of Kail, 218 
Asflria, dxiv 
Aifrole, the word, 304 
Asi, Ans), People called, xlv, Ivi 
Asia, opened by Tartar conquest, 

exxii 
— ^ Superior, 103 
Minor, Turkish Sultanates of, 

400 
Askhra, cxiv 
Asparah, Ashparah, its position, co, 

coxi »eqq. 
Aiper, 298. 300 

Asquini, Biographer of Odoric, 10, 37 
Astracan (Agitarohan, Haj Tarkan, 

Citracan, etc.), 231, 233, 287, 202, 

401 
Astrologers at the Great Khan's court, 

142 
Astronomy in India and China, Points 

common to, xxxiv 
Assam, 015 
Assassins, Sect of, 153 
Assyria, 351 

Assyrian Bombyeinay cliv Beqq. 
Atu (The AlaoH), 317, 318 
Atahek, the title, 504 
Atasnfl, cc 
Atha, the word, 118 
Athanasius, alleged body of, at Trebi- 

zond, 45 
'Athoi, the word, 472 
Athec (Aitok), 553 
AtloM (Satin), the word, 486 
Attila, Athil, Ethil or Wolga, dx^i, 

ccxxviii, 145 
Attok, 553 

Augustine's notion of Terrestrial Para- 
dise, 326 
Aujan, 50 
Aurelius Antoninus, Embassy to China 

from, Ixii 
Auxacia, 572 
Auxacian Mountains, cli 
Axam, 50 
Axum, dxix seqq, 
Azof, Azak, 2'id, 401-; see Tana. 
Ayin Akbari on Passes of Hindu 

'Knsh, 502 
Aykotta, 454 
Ayraul Guja, City of, 524 
Ayur Balibaira, Mongol Emperor of 

China, 171 



Azov, 401 ; see Tana. 



Babel, 54; Tower of, 886; £tymo« 

logy, 388 
Baber, Sultan, on Canopns, 102 ; on 

the Jack-fhiit, 862; on Passes of 

Hindu Kusb, 502 
Babirussa, cIxxy 
Babylon of Egypt, 161, 387 
Baeeadeo, a kind of indigo, 302 
Baocanor, 451 
Bachu Noian, cxxvii 
Bacuc, Sea of, see Baku. 
Badakhshan; larger application of, 

coxi; ccxxv, ccxxxiv, ocxlii BSqq,, 

157, 530, 541 seqq.^ 561 
Badger, Rev. G. P., cxciii, 50 
Baghbugh (Emperor of China), the 

word, cxii ; see Fagfur. 
Baghdad, 54, 388 
Baghlan, 504, 505 

Bahr-al-Kahil or Calm Sea, 473, 520 
B ai cxc 545 

Bairam \Perim) Island, 415, 443 
Bairami, All 
Baiwam Kotin, 405 
Bajah, cxiii 

Bcgnak or Pechinegs, clxxxvii 
Bakar, on Indus, 404 
Baker, General W. E., 347 
Bakhshi, a Lama or Buddhist liionk, 

ocxiii, 150 ; the word, 474 
Bakhtiyar Khilji tries to invade 

Cathay from Bengfd, Ixxy 
Baku, Bacuc, Vatuk, Sea of (the 

Caspian), 50, 234, 350 
Bala Sagun, 524 
Balaepatna, 453 
Balarghuif the word, 265 
Baldassia, Badakthaut ccxxv 
Balhara, a great Indian prince, clxxxiii- 

iv 
Balit, BalUh, Balitht, Balume, the 

word, ccviii, eel ; and value of the 

amount so called, 115 teqq.^ 123, 

240,280,204,480; further remarks, 

481 ; see Paper Money. 
Balkash Lake, ccxiii 
Balkh a Nestorian archbishopric, 

ccxlv, 170 
Ballabhinga, olxxxiii 
Ballaro, Piazza, in Palermo, clxxxiv 
Balliangot, 454 
Baltachinta, ccxxvi 
Bamboo, 03 ; manifold umcs, 04 ; sili- 
ceous concretions, 03 
Bamian, 502,504; Great Images at, 

157 
Bangs, 510 



Ixx 



INDEX. 



Bangamati, 516 

Baniaohong, 515 

Baojarmasin, 90 

Baojhir, see Jfanjihir. 

Banshoa {Hwangchao), a graat rebel 
in Gbipa, cvii 

Baptisms, in Tartary, L56; in Cathay, 
198, 206, 225; in I^adia, 208; of a 
Brahmin at Golambum, 381 ; of 
people at Kamnl on ooi^tioDS, 890 

JBora, the wood, 285 

Barahnagar, 460 

Barak River, 515 

Barbaro, Joaafati Notices of Cathay 
by, ozzxiz, czovii 

Barbary of Cosroaa (Somali Land), 
xlix, olxvii, clxix uqq, 

Barcelor, 451 

Barda'a, a metropolitan see of the 
Neatorians, cozlv 

Bardi Company, of Florence, 281, 288 

Barooh, 60; a port of China trade, 
Ixiiz 

Bartholomew of Pisa (Albizzi), 5 

of Santo Conoordio, 209 

the Florentine, a tra- 
veller in India, czxxiz 

Bams in Sumatra, 471 

Barygaza^ oxliv 

Basarur, 451 

Bashiar, cxi? 

Basil, Thickets of, 863; Holy, see 
TtOH. 

Basrah, Terminos of China Trade, 
Ixxviii ; a metropolitan see of Nes- 
torians, ccxliv, 179 

Bassano ; see Marchetino, 

Batheoala, 450 

Bathenians, 154; see A$$a$$in$, 

Batkul, 451 

Battas or Battaks and their cannibal- 
ism, 86, 101 

Batteoala, 451 

Bau, Great, 58 

Batu invades Europe, oxx 

Batuma, Tauuma, Natuma, civ 

Bavoyr (?), the word, 99 

Bayan, name of several Mongol states- 
men, and its antiqaity, 268, 265 

BaxiUs\ B/oe Bakhthi. 

Bazarak, Pass of, 592, 593 

BoMorraf the word, 286 

Beacon Towers in China, 138 

Beasts and Monsters, Strange, 136, 378 

Beatification of Odoric, 13, 12; sanc- 
tioned by Borne, 12; meaning of 
the term, 13 

Beatrice of Bavaria, 10 

Beauty of Women, of China, 105; 
of Thafan, clzxxiv 



Bednur, 451 

Beitkul, 450 

Bcgah, ccxxvii« ocxlii 

Bel^an, Deaert of, oxcvi 

Belkis, Arab Legend of Qneen, 889 

Bella, for petitioners at the Emperor's 
or Governor's gate, cvi; in churches 
at Zayton, 355 ; an abomination to 
the Mahomed ans, 356, 401 

Belsa, a city of China, 111 

Beneoolen, 87 

Benedict XI or XII, Pope, sends a 
legation to Cathay, 318, 335 

the Pole, Friar, cxxiii, 448 

Bengal, Mongol invasion of, Ixxiv; 
attempts to invade China from, 
Izxv; Ibn Batuta's account of, 457 ; 
History of, cclii, 459 ; Divisions of, 
ecli ; Way to Cathay by, 534 

Bengala, City of, 465 

Benjamin of Tudela's Notice of China, 
oziv 

Benzoin, cxlvi, 470 

Bemacle geene, 144, 146; Chinese 
siories of like kind, 145 

Beruwala in Ceylon, 357 

Beth Garma, a Nestorian Arch- 
bishopric, ooxliv, 179 

Selencia, ccxliv 

Beyalun, the Princess, 401 

Beypur, 454 

BMkihUy 150, 474 

Biana, 414 

Bianco, Andrea, his Map of the 
World, 235, 327 

Bibliography of Odoric's life and 
Travels, ccxUi, 34 teqq.; of Ibn 
Batuta, 429 geqq. ; of Goes, 548 

Bielo Ozero, cczlvi 

Bignif the word, 117 

Bikan (Pingyangfhj, oczi 

Bilal Deo R^ja, 416 

Bimlipatam, 274 

Bird with Two Heads, Origin of stoiy, 
100 

Birs Nimrud, 387 

Bisades, Besidas, cxliv 

Biehbalig, cxxviii, 506, 522, 544, 576 

Bishdagh, 401 

Bisignano, MarignoUi, Bishop of, 328 

Bishop, Sovereign, in China (G. Lama), 
241 

Bishops appointed by the Pope to 
Cathay, 1701; venerated in the 
East, 341 

Bishop of the Saracens, 60, 235 

Biyardawal, 425 

Black clothes of N. Chinese, 1, li 

and White City Walls in 

Tibet, 148 



INDEX. 



Ixxi 



Blaok Death, 898, 426 

Sea, YariouB names of, 44, 195 

Blow tube for Arrows, 91 

BlaeBi?er,464, 516 

Boards of AdministratioD, Gbinese, 
2656 

Boeta, Bootao, Botta, see Boghthak 

Boghthakt the word (name of woman's 
bead-dresa among Tartars), 131-3 

Bohrahs, 443 

Bokhara, oexvii, ccxx 

Bolghar, or Bolar, City of, coxzxTiii, 
234,401 

Bolor Tagh, oezxxii fegg., 542 

Biver, or Wakhshab, eoxsxiii 

uqq. 

^-^. Place and Province so-called, 
ocxxxiv $eqq, 

Bombyetna, cW 

Boneti, Fr. Nicholas, 820 

Bonsaet {Abutaid), 299 

Book of the Estate of the G. Khan, 288 

Borametz or Lamb-Plant, 144-5 

Botm, cczxzv 

BoQssay, Emperor (Ahuioid), 238,244 

Brahmani Bulls, 78 

BrazU-Wood, 77, 213 

Bricks dag for at Babylon, 886 

Bridal ceremonies, Malay, 512 

Bridge, Natural, ocxxzt, cxzzviii 

Bridges of Cansay {Kingiti) 114-15, 
854 

Buddha, Images of, 242, 858; 
Colossal, oxziz, ooiii, ccW, ccxviii, 
109 

Buddhism: introduced into China, 
Ixvii ; resemblance of rites to those 
of Catholicism, 551 ; confounded 
with Christianity, 551-2; in Tur- 
kestan, 547 ; at Khotan, ib, 

Buddhist Monks, their sanetity,ccxviii, 
208, 242, 359, 360, 867, 368, 384 

Monastery at Cansay and 

strange exhibition there, 119 

Pilgrims from China to 



India, and their narraUves, Ixxii 

uq,, 410 
Burchard, Friar, ccxW, 191 
Burhanuddin Saghaiji, a Musulman 

Doctor, 463, 504, 506, 510 
Busbeok's account of Cathay from a 

Turkish Dervish, ccxx 
BytffUf , dvii 
Byzantine History, Passage of, in 

Annals of China, Ix 



Cacianfu, ccxvi 
Caciz, the word, 568 



Cadeti (Land on Athil, Herdil, or 
Wolga), 144, 145 

Cadi (Kazi), used by Odoric, 60 

Cadini (Do.), 285 

Cael, 72, see Kail 

Caffa, ccxYii, 821, 387, 401 

Co/tfo, Measure so-called, 297 

Caga (Oogo), 228, 444 

Cailac, cczii-iii, 575-6 

Cain, built a city in Ceylon, 369; 
legend of his death, i5. ; sons of 
(Yeddahs), 870 ; see also ccxlvi 

Cairo, 898 ; see Babylon 

CalacresU, 800 

Calcia, 540, 558, 559, 560, 596 

Calicut, 416 ; fr^uented by China 
ships, 418, 425, 454, 518 

Calm Sea, 473, 520 

Camara, 58 

Cambalec, Cambalu, Khanbalig (Ptf- 
^fi^), cxcviii ; Odoric's account of, 
127 $eqq,; Archbishops of, 170 teqq,^ 
188; the dty, 289, 244; Churches 
and Conyents in, 247, 341, 29U, 298, 
821 ; MarignolU at, 339 

Cambaleschia {Cambalec), cxxxvi 

Cambay, 855, 418, 415, 582 

Camall (ffamdl), the word, 866 

Camels and Camalls, ib, 

Cameleopard, dxxiv 

Oamexn (Kaneheu), 288, 296 

Camoeeaf Cammueea, the word, 295, 
246, 410, 486 ; see Kimkhwa 

Camphor described, 470 

Campion, see Kaneheu 

Campsay, City of (Cansay, Cassay, 
Quinsay, Khansa, Kingss^, Hang- 
cheu), 854, 378, 384, 393 ; see Can* 
tay and Khanta 

Camnl, see KamtU 

Can Grande, 128 

Canal of China, the Great, J 25, 259, 
502 uqq. 

Cananor, 453 

Canbasci {Kumhaihi), 571 

Cancen (Kaneheu^ q.Y.)f 081 

Canes, very long, 93 

Cangerecora, 451 

Cangue or Chinese pillory, oov 

Canine Philosophers, 874 

Cants Magnus, 128 

Cannibalism, in Tartary, clii, cliii ; in 
Sumatra and Archipelago, 85, 97, 
98,101; in Tibet, 151 

Canopus, Baber on, 195 

Canpicion {Kaneheu), 581 

Cansanghi Caseio (JaUe-miiie), 565 

Cansay, The Great City (Campsar. 
Cassay, Quinsai, Kingtts^, Khaosi, 
Hangcheu, etc), 113 ; its vast- 



Ixxii 



INDEX. 



ness and resoarces, 114 »eqq,, 304. ; 
BtraDge creataresin monastery there, 
119, 384; 239, 244, 288 ; Virgin wor- 
shipped there, 893 ; see Khamd 

Cantaro, 296 

Canton, Voyage from, to Persian Gulf 
in 7th and 8th centuries, Irxviii; 
plundered by Arabs, Izzx; described 
by Odoric (Censcolan), 106 seq.; 
named by Rashid {Chinkalan) 269, 
by Marignolli (Cynkalan), 373; 
described by Ibn Batnta(iStnAMUa7i), 
488 ieqq,; see these names and 
Sin-ulsin 

Cap of the Great Khan, Precious, 
161 

Capao, see Ouehek 

Capital Colzilan, 571 

Capperstam ( KafirUtan), 554 

Caput FluminiSf the phrase, 124 

Cara Cat ay, 176 ; see Kara Khitai 

Garaoorum, 177 ; see Kara. 

Caraian, 269, 273 ; cheapness of gold 
in, ccl, 442 

Caramoran {Karamureu or Hoang Ho, 
q. v.), cciv, ocxi, 125, 268, 350 

Cardamoms, 88, 452 

Camate, 451 

Carus, Emb. from Emperor, to 
China, Iziii 

Carwar, 450 

Cascar, 556 ; see Kaihgar 

Casciani {Kaihani)tb7S 

Cathisht Caseit, the word, 568 

GaHpian Mountains {Caucasus)^ 144 

Caspian Sea; regarded as a Gulf, xlv, 
clxvii ; 50, 350 ; see Baku 

Cassai. Cassay, 239, 244. 288; see 
Camay 

Cassan {Kathan)^ 50, 51 

Ccutan, word intended, 93 

Cast-iron, Chinese, xlii 

Cateea of Arrian, cxvi 

Catalan Map of 1375, Notes on, cczxiii 

Catanea, see Cathani 

Cathan, city of Pygmies, 121 

(Khitan), applied to Cathay, 

239 

Cathani, Andreolo, 196 

Cathay, the name, xxxiii ; China 
known as, cxv; why, cxvi; name 
first heard in Europe, cxxiii; passing 
into China, oxxxv ieqq. ; sea voyages 
in search of, oxlii ; land journey of 
iFenkinson, t&. ; Odoric enters, 
125-7; Montecorvino reaches, 1 97 ; 
Bashid's Notices of, 257 seqq, ; 
Land Trade to, 287 seqq.; Jbn 
Batuta enters, 503 ; Jerome Xavier's 
desire to investigate, 532 ; Mission 



of Goe<) for the purpose, 522 teqq, ; 
identified with China, 577, etc.; see 
Table of Contents 

Cathea of Strabo, cxvi 

Catholic Converts in China, etc., 118, 
133; seeBaptUmi 

Cattigarat cxiv, cl 

Cauvey, 443 

Caviare, 297 

Caxiz, 568; see Caihith 

Cayda, see Kaidu 

Cembalo {Balaklava), confounded 
with Cambalu, 173 

Censcalan, 105 ; see Canton and 
Chinkalan 

Ceroove, cxxxviii, 465 

Ce»ani, Cesini, Cetena^ the word, 128 

Cesena and Corbarius, Schismatic 
Franciscans, 9 

Ceylon, Communication of, with China, 
Ixvii ; Tributary to China, Ixxiiiiv; 
Pliny on, dvi ; Ancient Christianity 
in, clxxi, dxxvii ; Cosmas's Account 
of, clxxvi ; Adventure of Sopatrus 
in, clxxix ; Odorio's Account of, 98 ; 
Noticed by Montecorvino, 2L3 ; 
Marignolli fascinated by, 325 ; asso- 
ciated with Paradise, 346 ; Mountain 
of, 346, 353, 354, 358, 422; how 
Marignolli was driven in by storm, 
357; visited by Ibn Batuta, 422; 
see Taprohane, Sielediba^ Serendib 

Chagan Jang, 273 

Chagan-Nur, 274-5 

Chagan Talas, xcviii 

Cbagatai, Empire of, coxliv ; Limits, 
cxxi ; Chronology of, 187 uqq. ; 
Note on Khans of, 522 seqq. ; Khans 
of Eastern Branch, 524, 545 

Chaitee of Ptolemy, cxvi 

Chaitwa, 454 

Chakebanihe (Jack-fruit), 362 

Chaldsea; supposed communication 
with China, xxxv ; 54 

Chaldffian Oflloe of St. Thomas, Ixxxiz 

Chale, 75, 454 

Chalish (Cialis, Chialis), ccxvii, 546, 
566, 574 ; its position discussed, 575 

Champa, civ, cix, ex, 95 ; whence the 
name tb., 469 ; see Sanf, 

Chanderi, 415 

Ghandi-Sewu, in Java, 449 

Chandragiri, 451 

Cbanggan, li, ovii, clxxxiii ; see Sin- 
ganfu 

Changkian*8 Mission to the West, liv ; 
he hears about India, Ixvi 

Chank Shells, dxxviii 

Cbansi {Zenkshi)^ Khan of Cbagatai, 
188 



INDEX. 



Ixxiii 



Chao (Paper Money of China), ocviii, 

291 
Character of Ibn Batnta, 438 
Characters, Chinese, cxxvii, cxov 
Cbarchunar, 561-2 
Char Darya Pass, 504 
Cbarekar, 403, 540, 557. 595 
Charkh, Charka (Charekar), 403, 557 
Charles IV, Emperor, makes Marig- 

noUi a Chaplain, 328 ; makes him 

recast Bohemian Annals, 329 
Charters of Malabar Christians, 378 
Chasemgara, see Kashamghara 
Chatganw, 459, but see ccl 
Chatyr, the word, 381 
Cbawnl, cxcii, 591 
Cheapness, in China, 10(t; in Bengal, 

ecli ; 457 $eq. 
Checbalit, ccxzxvii, 563 
Cheghanian, coxxzv 
Cheman {Khanam /), 559 
Chemenfa, 134 
Chesaud, Aim^, attempts to travel 

overland to China, czliii 
Chestnuts in W. China, 148 
Chiai-Catai (Tea), ccxv 
Chiaionon, see Kiayukoan 
Chialis, see ChalUh 
Chiaveriaf the word, 285 
Chicheck Tagh, 563 
Chichin Talas, xcviii 
Chideheo {Kidifu; stations of Post- 

Ranners in Cathay), 138 
Chilaw, 423 

Chilenfa {Nanking), 120 
Chiltung, Pass of, 563 
Chimia, Simla and Limia, ccxix 
Chin, the name, xxxiii 

and Maohin, oxix, oxli, oxovii 

China, the antiquity of the name and 

origins suggested, xxxiii-iv, etc., 

etc.; see Table of Contents 
o^— A Nestorian Archbishopric, xc, 

ccxlv, 179 
— — Goose, cexliii, 106-7 
List of Provinces under the 



Mongols, 207 ieqq. 
See Porcelain 



Chinapatam (Madras) has nought to 

do with China, Ixxvi 
Chincheu or Thsiuancheu, 108, 486, 

and see Zayton, 
Chinese, high character of, among 

neighbouring nations, xlii 
Proverb as to comparative 

blindness of other nations, cxxxvi, 

cxxzvii, cxl, cxcv 

Itinerary in Badakhshan, 



ccxxxii, 539 

— — lufluence in Turkestan, 544 



teqq, ; last conquest of Kashgar, 547, 
etc., etc. ; see Table 

Ching Dynasty, xxxiv 

Chinghiz Khan, his birth and con- 
quests, cxvii ; Rubruquis's Account 
of, 178 ; his relations with Wang 
Khan (Prester John of Polo), 181; 
his capture of Urghanj, 232, 257, 
479 ; siege of Talikan, 541 ; con- 
quest of Turkestan, 544 ; 558 ; 594 

Cfaingkiangfu, 124 

Chingsang, Title of highest ministers 
under the Great Khan, 1 37, 256, 263, 
815 

Chingtingfn, cciv 

Chingtufu, cxi 

Chinkalan {Canton, q. v.), 105, 269, 
373 ; see Sinkalan also 

Chios taken from the Genoese Zacaria, 
195 

Chipangu, Jipankwe (Japan), 271 

Chitral, 554 

Chittagoog, ccli, 458, 465 

Choerelaphus, Animal so-called, clxxv 

CholiaUB, dxv 

Chombe, 453 

Christian, taken for a national title, 
cxxviii 

Christians in China, Izzz, xci, 497; 
also see whole section on Nestorian 
Christianity in China, p. Ixxxviii 
$eqq.i and clxxxi-iii ; among Tartars 
see above secton,also cxxvii, cxxxix, 
and Prester John, Nettarian ; of 
St. Thomas, 60, 72, 76, 81, 214, 343, 
3/6,378,381 

Christianity, Nestorian, see Nestorian 
and p. Izxxviii eeqq,; in Socotra, 
dxxvii, 168-9 ; in Ceylon, clxxi, 
clxxvii ; traces of in Indo-Chinese 
countries, ci ; ascribed to Chinese, 
cxoix, 533, 550 teg. ; often confound- 
ed with Buddhism, Ixi, 551-2, 205 

Chronology, of Khans of Ghagatai, 187 
ieqq. ; of Marignolli's Journey, 342 ; 
of Ibn Batuta's Voyage to China, 
425, 513 ; of Journey of Goes, 537 

Chryse, cxliv 

Chu River, ccxiii 

Chu-chu (Tsocheu), 260 

Chukaklee, 563 

Chungtu {Peking), 127, 257 

Churches, Catholic, in Cathay, czzxii ; 
in Cambalec, 198, 202, 206, 361 ; in 
Tenduc, 109 ; at Zayton, 223, 224, 
355; at Aimalik, 338; in Malabar, 
344 

Chdrch^, People so called (Manchus), 
cxvii. 267, 27 1 

Chus (JiCtM; in Egypt, 390 



buiy 



INDBX. 



CiMor, 071 

Gialis, see Chaliih 

Ciandu, see Sandu 

Cisrakar (Chartkar), 557 

GuureiaoAr(Cbarehimar), 561 

Giaal (ChawuX)^ 591 

Gieogoa, GavaUere, 33 

Giecialitb, 562 

Gimesquinte {Samarkand)^ 103 

Gincalan, Gyncalan, 373 , see CanUm^ 

ChmkdUin 
Gtimamoii Plant, 218 ; in Geylon, t5. 
GiDtacola,450 
Gisteriian Hoases in Scotland and 

England prodaoing wool, 307-8 
Gities of Ghina, vast unmber of, 104, 

137, 354; gradation of their rank 

and appropriate titles, 262 
Gitraean (Attraean q. ▼.), 287 
Gividale, 1, 2, 10 

Glav^o's Notices of Gathay, oxxxt 
Glemenfa, 184 
Glimate of India, 210 
Glove, clxxvii, 305, 472 ; stalks of, 300, 

472.3; bark of, 473 

Gonntiy, olxxviii 

Glnbbing System, Ghinese, 114 

Goal of Ghina, 261, 478, 482 

Goohin,459 

Cocks and hens in Ghina, 110, 479 

Gooo-nnt tne, olxxvi, 213, 362 

— ^ palm fibre, texture from, 353, 366 

Goilon, 454; see Qutlon, CodMndtim, 

etc. 
Goios, Indian, meotioned by Ibn 

Batnta, ocxlv fc^g., 439 uqq, 
Goir.Khan {Qur-Khan), 176 
Goleoh^a (KoUchi), 531 
Goleridge on Kublai's Snmmer Palace, 

184 
Golon, 72 ; see Cohmbum^ etc. 
Golombo in Geylon, 428 
Island of (for CoWmbum or 

Qoilon), 72 
Golumbum (perhaps should be 

Columbui^ see 184 ; Goulam, 

Gonlang, Goilon, Quilon, Kaulam, 

etc.), 75, 184, 227, 321, 342, 345, 

356, 374, 420, 454, etc. ; see 

Kaulam 
Golumbns sought Gathay, cxli 
Golumos, set up by MarignoUi at 

Golumbum, 344 ; of Alexander, t6., 

and ooxlvi ; of Bacchus, 845 
Comedi, exlix, ol, ccxi 
Comerchio, the word, 285 
Gomerum, 52 
Gommeroial Intercourse of Europe 

with Ghina and India in 14th 

century, cxxxiii 



Community of wiTes, 80 

Gomuoh, Eumuk, district north of 
Darband, and site of a Fr. GonTenty 
233 

Constantinople, as deeeribed in 
Chinese Works, Iviii; siege of, by 
Arabs noted in do^ Iz ; details of 
trade at, 302; Marignolli at, 837; 
Ibn Batnta at, 402 

Cora, John de. Archbishop of Soltania, 
works by, cxxxii, 190, 238 

Gori>arin8, Schismatic Frandsean, 9 

Cormorants used for fishing, 110-113 

Corrections and additional notes, cexl 
teqq, 

Gorsalis, Andrew, Notioe of China by 
cxli 

Cosmas the monk, xlvii; his topo- 
graphy and system of the world ; 
his correct idea of the position of 
China (Tzinista), xlix ; extraeta 
from his work, olxvii teqq, ; his 
teachers, ccxl; his ideas of Terr. 
Paradise, 327 

, Friar, appointed Archbishop 

of Gambaleo, 172 

Cotmi, the word, czxv • 

Cots, Coulam, 451 

Gotan, see Khotan 

Cotrone, 306 

Goulang, 345 ; see CohimMuii, etc 

Council of Lyons, cxxi 

Court Ceremonial at Gambaleo, 143 

Goya Jaan {Khwa^a Jahan), 356 

Graft, vast amount of, on Ghinese 
waters, 124 

Cranganor, Ixxvii, dxxxiii, 75, 373-4, 
454 ; see Shinkali and Cynkali 

Crimson dye, quaint fable about, cxxvi 

Crocodile, 77 

Cross, woods of the, discussed, 364 

Crucifix in the Plantain, 361 

Ctesias on Seres (donbtfol), xxxix 

Cucia (Kucha), 573 

Cumania, Comania, Ghamania, 232 

Comanian language, 291-2 

Cunningham, Mig.-Gen. A., 41 1 , 430 

Caps that fly through the air, 143 

Currents, Southerly, from Indian 
Islands, ccxliii, 93 

Cuthef Aides-de-camp of Qreat Khan, 
135 

Cyogilim, 75 ; see Cynkali^ Shinkali 

Cynkali (Cranganor), 75, 873 

Cynocepbali, 97, 467 

Cyollos Eagon, xeviii, 339 

Cytiaea, the word, 337 



Dabao (Zab^i, Java), civ 



INDXX. 



Ixxv 



Datbul, Ixxix, oxeii 

Daieh BWez (Iaik\ oIxtI 

Dailam, Nett. Archbiaboprie of, eoxW, 

179 
Dailia (TaUfn), 269. 278 
DaimiDg Kban, ccxv 
Baitu, Daidu, tbe Mongol city at 

Peking, 127, 258 
Daji or Ts^in, eci uqq. 
Dakehoki, 139 
Daldili, 56 
Pamasous, a metropoUtao see of tbe 

Neatorians, cozlv 
Dangehiy Dangji, oci ieqq,^ 815 
Danibeg'B TraTois, 540 
Dara*i-AiDgbaran, 596 
DarasQD, Chinese Wine, ooiii, 118 
Darband-Nias near Java, 278 
Darkness, Land of, 401 
lyArDcba, Jesuit Surveyor in Central 

Asia, ccxxxiv 
Darwaz, Ibid, 

Dates, Cheapness of, about Basra, 56 
Danlatabad, made capital in lieu of 

Dehli, 4f>5, 413, 415 
D'Avezao's Essay on Trayellers to 

Tartary, exxxiii; on Prester John, 

181, 182 
David King of the Tartars, Rumours 

of, 175 
Day and Night in India, Length of, 

211 
Daya in Sumatra, ecxliii, 84 
Dead, disposal of, in Cathay, 247 ; in 

Tibet, 150.1 ; in India, 214 
Dead Sea (Southern Ocean), 92 

' seen from Mount Zion, 

oexlvi, 889 
Death of Odorio, 161 
Deeeney of Hindus, 374 
Defremery and Sanguinetti, their 

translation of Ibn Batuta, 481 
Degenerations in Geographical know- 
ledge, xW 
Dehfatun, 458 
Dehli; Emperor of, 58, 69; numerous 

attendants at Court of, 188; Ibn 

Batuta arrives at, 406; deserted, 

407 
Deligbte, Biver of, 156 
DtUa Deeima^ etc., the book so-oalled 

279 teqq. 
Dellai, 278 
DeUy. Mount, 452 
Deluge did not reach Adam's Peak, 

859, 870 
Demawend, 47 

Demetrius, Friar and Martyr, 61, 226 
Companion of Goes, 553, 

557, 576 



Deogiri {Daulatabad)y 413 

Deserts, Haunted, 157, 428 

Desideri's Journey to Tibet, 149 

Despina Khatun, 402 

Devipatam, 425 

Devil crying in the night (D«vil Bird), 

195 
Devils oast out by Franciscans, 155 
Devil's Advocate, 13 
Devoutness of Saracens, 384 
Dewar, Title of Princes of Ma'bar, 219, 

220 
Dhar. 415 
Dharmapatam, 458 
Dhihat'UlMahl (Maldives), 422 
Dhofar, 513 
Diabolic Art, 131 

Diagorgan (Dehkherkan\ 225, 226 
Dtamondii, Alleged, in Ceylon, 100 
Dibajat (Maldives), ciii 
Dili (Dehli), Emperor of, 58, 69 
Dinar, Indian, of Ibn Batuta, ooxlvii 

teqq.f 407, 439 seqq. 
and Dirhem, Estimate of 

Arabian, 440 
Dioscoris, olxxi, see Soeotra 
Dirhem, olxxix, ccxlix 
Dishes of plaited cane, 246, 502 
Diu, Ixxviii 

Division of Tongnee, 887 
Divriki, 299 
Dizabulus, Ehagan of the Tnrk<t, olx 

teqq. 
Doana (Dogana), the word, ecxlvi,284 
Dobner, Gelasius, editor of Marignolli, 

830, 338, 842 
Dog-faced Islanders of Nicoveran, 97, 

467 
Dolphin, clxxvi 
Dondera, 429 
Dondin, Odoric's aeoount of, 100 ; 

difficult to identify, 101 
Donkola, a Bishopric, ccxxvii 
Dragoian, Kingdom of, 101 
Dragomen, Hints on, 291 
Dragons, Fiery, 856 
Dream, Coleridge's verses made in a, 

curious coincidence, 184 
Dress of people of Cathay, 24 
Drinking habits of the ancient Turks, 

clxiv 
Drum at Emperor's Gate, ovi 
Drums, Hill of (Sounding Sand), 898 
Druzes' claim to Chinese origin » 

Ixxxviii, 111 
Dua Khan of Chagatai, 195, 253 
Dumb Trade, d, clvii, clxx-i^ 888 
Duwan Biver, coxxxvi 
Dwara-Samundra, Ixxvii, 81, 216, 217, 

412 



Ixxvi 



INDEX. 



Dwarfs, 136 
Dyaks of Borneo, 94 

Eabth, Length and Breadth of In. 
habited, olxTiii ieq, 

Eanter, Saracen, 225 

Eating siok relations, alleged custom 
of, 101, 102 

Eobatana taken by Prester John, 174 

Eetag (the Altai), olxiii 

Edict, Chinese, regarding Christian 
Churches, xci-ii 

Edil or Wolga, 50 ; see Attila 

Edrisi's Geography and Notices of 
China, czii ; his geography of the 
Upper Ozas, ccxxxiv 

Edward II, Letter to Oljaitu, Khan of 
Persia from, cxxxi 

Egyptian Months, clxxi 

Rgriar, 571 

Eier Tau, Lake, 324 

Elabacare, 452 

Elohigaday ; see lUhikdai 

Elephant, white, 423 ; sagacity of, 367 

Carriage of G. Khan, 135 

Elephants, lii; kept by Indian Princes, 
clxxx I bought by height, ib, ; 
prices, ib,; taming and fighting of, 
olxxxi ; tusks, ib. ; of the King of 
Ghampa,95; at Peking, 140; in Saba, 
302 ; alleged use of in China, 435 ; 
in Tawalisi, 521 ; on Sulo and part 
of Borneo, tb.; on Maldives (?), 322 

Elias, and Phineas, Legends about, 
391; bill tops sacred to, td. ; in 
Saba, ib. 

(lliyas) Khwaja, 525 

Elim or Raithu, clxxii 

Ely, ccli, 451 ; see Hili 

Embassies, from Roman Empire to 
China, Jxii $€qq. ; from Byzantium 
to Turkish Khagans, olx; from Shah 
Rukh to Peking, cxl, cxcix; from 
G. Khan to the Pope in 1338, 313 ; 
and in return, 319 ; from Emp. of 
China to Delhi in 1342,410; and 
return embassy, 411; to China, 
commercial expeditions in guise of, 
504, 582 

Emeralds, clxxx, ocxlii 

Empoli, Giovanni of, ccxlii, 72 

Enoch, the founder of Monkery, 370 

Ephthalites or White Huns, clx-i-ii 

Equius of Bubruquis, cc, ccxi 9eqq. 

Ergol or Tarym R., 544 

Erzingan, 300 

Erzrum, ig, 300 

Ethiopia^eputation from, 167-8,209; 
Christianity of, 168; open to mis- 
sions, 227.0; see Abyninia 



Eaphirattes, Lake below Paradise, 340 
Euphrates, R. ; sooroea of, 46 ; 351 
Europe invaded by Tartars, cxix 
Evil Spirits in Deserts, 157 
Expenses of Mercantile yentore to 

Cathay, 293 
Exterior China, cxiv 



Faohfttr, cxii ; ^eeBaghbugh 

Fabian's Travel<«, Ixxii 

Fakanur, 425. 451 

Fakhruddin, Sultan of Bengal, oclii, 

459 
Fait, the word, 116, 481 
Fan (Fanam), its value, 343-4 
Fanchan or Panchan^ Chinese and 

Mongol Ministerial Title, 137, 263, 

264, 265, 268, 315 
Fandaraina, 75, 419, 453; see Pan- 

darani 
Fansuri Camphor, 471 
Fars, a metropolitan see of Nestorians, 

ccxlv 
Fanakh or Parasang, ccxvii 
Farwan (Panoan), 558 
Fattan or Pattan, port in S. India, 

214, 219, 424 
Fatteh Ali Shah's large family, 95 
Fazlullah ; see Rashiduddin 
Feasts at Court of G. Khan, 141 
Fedo {Fada), the word, 285 
Feet, compressed, of Chinese women, 

153 
Felt, tents of black, in Tibet, 148 ; 

idols made of, 150 
Female, dress in Baghdad, 54 ; 

schools, 416 

Sovereignty, 322, 389, 422 

Fenchui-Nanwang, 126 

Fez, the King of, 426.7 

Fig leaves ; see Plantain 

Filippo, Padre, on Terr. Paradise, 327 

Fire, Tartar ceremony of passing 

persons and goods through, clxiii 
Firuz, son of Yezdejird III, takes re- 
fuge in China, Ixxxv 
, Rebellious nephew of G. 

Khan (fictitious), 506 
Fish, wondrous shoals of, 96 ; for 

cattle food, 400 
Fish-eating Ethiopians, dii 
Fishing in China ; by Ci>rmorant8, 1 11- 

12; by hand, 113 
Fistuehi, 304 
Fiume di Piaceri, 157 
Flandrina, 75 ; see Pandarani 
Florence, John of; two such John8,31 1 
Florin, Florentine, 281, 443 
Flonis on Seres, xlii 



INDBX. 



Ixxvii 



Flying Leeches, Oi) 

FogUa Naova, 196 

Folin ; see Fulin 

Foling {Radix China), ooxvi 

FolUri, the word, -kSi 

FoUi$t the word, 481 

FolUro, a small coid, 298 

Fondaeo, Fontego, oxoviii ; (for ons- 
toins), 284 ; (factory) at Zayton, 
355 ; the word and thing, ib. ; 484 

Foot- posts in Cathay, 138 

Foot- print on Adam's Peak, 353, 358 

Forster on Fegolotti, 282 

FonnUin of Paradise, 346, 360; of 
Jonah, 351 

Fowl-rabbit, 110 

Fra Mauro's Great Map, cxzxviii ; 
use made of Conti's information, 
ib,; of Odoric's, 18 

Francis, Friar, De Orbit Situ, etCt 
oxli 

of Pisa, 61, 65 

FranoiRcan Monks; martyred at Tana 
in India, 60 teqq. ; do. at Almalig, 
186, 338; at the Conrt of Cambalec, 
133,143; in Cathay ,247; expel devils, 
155; mostacceptable missionaries to 
Cathayans, 341 

Houses at Tabriz, 47 ; at 

Sultania, 50; at Zayton, 73, 108, 
355 ; at Yangchea, 123 ; at Csmba- 
lee, 341 ; in Kipchak, 232, 233 ; in 
Cathay, cxxxii 

Franks, who they are, 292 ; how so 
called, 336 

French spoken at Aleppo, 352, and in 
Cyprus, ib. 

Frieda, the word, 375 

Friuli, 1, 2 

Fruit, forbidden, discussed, 363 

trees, bearing men and women, 

79 

Fucheu, 109, 268 ; modem paper cur- 
rency in, 290 

Fulang (Europe), 340 

Fulin (Byzantium), Ivii teqq,, 403 

Funeral ceremonies, at Hormuz, 56; 
Tartar, 507-8; see Dead, Ditpo' 
tal of 

FushiTaifii, 178 

Fuzo (Fucheu), 109 

Fyzabad, Badakhshan, ccxxxv-vi, 541 



Oabala, Bishop of, brings first news 

of Prester John, 174 
Oabelli, Biographer of Odoric, 15, 

17,36 
Oades, two points so called by Cos* 

mas, clxix, clxxii ; eastern, 345 



Oalafron, K. of Cathay, cxxxv 

Oalanga, 305 

Galbanum, 305 

Galdan Khan, 547 

Galle, 423 

Gam alec for Cambalec, 289 

Gandhara, Ixxii 

Ganfu, Ixxx 

Ganges, B., 458 

Garagat ; see Ohoraghat 

Garameeans, cxliv ; see Beth Oarma 

Garden of Gteat Khan, 128 ; of Adam 
in Ceylon, 360 

Oantda, 5 1 1 

Gaudia ( Gaon), the word, clxxvii 

Gauta (Kaotai), ccxvii 

Gazaria {Crimea), 200, 204, 209, 231, 
306 

Geese, great, in Manzi, ccxliii, 106 

Genoese merchants; in Cathay, 224 ; 
in Indian Sea, 381 

Geographical Notions of MarignoUi, 
372, 385 ; of Ibn Batuta, 432 

George, King, of Prester John's family, 
173,199,202 

Gem- fishery in Ceylon, 99 

Gerard, Friar, appointed a Bishop to 
Cathay, 170, 223 

Gerbillon, Father, 147 

German Engineer in Cathay, cxxxi ; 
Traveller in Central Asia, anony- 
mous, ooxxxi, cxxzviii teqq,, 539 

Ghaiassuddin, Sultan of Ma' bar, 524 

Ghalcha people, 558 

Ghazan, Khan, 204, 258, 300 

Qhazar of China, a kind of silk-stufif? 

■ • « 

CXIII 

GhideU {Jagdalah), 555 

Ghoraghat, 534 

Ghorband, Passes of, 592, 594 

Gialalabath {Jalalabad), 559 

Giants, 136, 383 

Giglioii, Mr. Heuiy, ccxliii 

Gilan, ccxiv 

Gilishdiur {KaUtaDewar), Baja of 
Ma'bar, 220 

Gillott, a merchant martyred, 338 

Ginger in Malabar, and kinds, 77 ; 
cheapness of, in China, 106; the 
plant, 213 

Gintarchan ; see Oittarchan 

Giraflfe, olxxiv 

Gittarchan {Attracan), 231, 287, 292 

Giunti, the Printer, ooxiv, ocxix 

Goa, 444 

Gobidar, 299 

God upon Earth, James Fonmier 
claims to be, 319 

Goes, Benedict, cxlii; Map to illus- 
trate, ccxxxi ; Introductory Notices 



Irxviii 



INDEX. 



regardiDg, 529; his Jonniey from 
Ag» to Cathay, 519 9eqq,; see 
Table of Goutents 

Gog and Magog, great wall of, oexz?, 
490 

Oogo, eozzz, 228, 444 

Gold, knives of, in Smgery, 390; 
vast aoeamolations of in S. India, 
217; great plunder of in Dekkan, 
coxliii, ocl, 442 ; relative value of in 
14th oentniy, col ieqq.; 441 -2 

teeth, people so called ; see Zcr- 

dandan 

Golden gate of Bysantiam,iix; Cher- 
sonese, ol 

GoUas, K. of White Hnns. clzzx 

Golobev, GoL, Ressian Surveyor in 
Central Asia, ooxxxii 

Gosju and Sabjo, 273 

Goths of Crimea, and their language, 
200 

Oraduale, what, 202 

Granaries, puhlie, in China, 240, 243 

Grand Can, L'Hystoire Herveilleuse 
dn, etc. (work so styled), 35 

Grand Caan, Estate and Ooyemanee 
of (the above, translated), 189, 
238 

Grand Trutius or Truoins (G. Lama), 
241,242 

Great Gulf, clii 

Great Khan (and Kaam), his palace 
at Cambaleo, 128; the state at his 
court, 129 ; his banquets, 132 ; his 
progresses, 134; his great domi- 
nions, 136; his hunting matches, 
139 4 his four great feasts, 141; in- 
terview of Odorio with, 160; his 
favour to the Catholic Faith, 161, 
208, 249 ; and Soldan of Babylon, 
161; his alleged conversion and 
ftrequency of such stories, 171, 319 ; 
238, 239; his embassy to the 
Pope, 313 ; his reception of Marig- 
nolli's party, 339; and liberal treat- 
ment of them, 340; burial of, 507 ; 
see Kaan and Table of Contents 

Great Wall; not mentioned, as sup 
posed, by Ammianus, zl ; 490 

Greater Sea {Black Sea), 44 

Greek spoken in Socotra, clxxii 

Church, controversy with, 337 

— Notices of China, xlrii seqq» 

History of China, lont, Ixxxiv 

Green Mount at Peking, 128, 129 
Gregory X, Pope, 166 

GrimanuR, Leo, companion of Goes, 

553, 557 
Grueber and IVOrville's journey from 

China to Agra, 149, 235 



Guehek {Gahak or K<ipak), Khan of 
Chagatai, ccxxiv, 195 

Gnidotto, Friar, desires Odorio to re- 
late his story, 44 ; and to attest its 
truth, 159 

Gujarat, clxxxiv 

Gnndar, Gandar, 443 

Gwalian, Pass of, 594 

Gwatior, 413 

Gwazyar, Pass of, 594 

Gybeit, Mount, in Saba, 822, 891 

Gyon applied to the Nile, 348 



Habahoia Tilah, 516 

Habank, Habang, dty of, 274, 464, 
515 uqq. 

Hagabateth, 571 

Haidar Knrkan, 548, 576 

Hainan, 272,273 

Hairy women, 136 ; girl, 379 

H^O^i, Viceroy of IridE, Ixxxi 

Hiyji Mahomed's account of Catbay, 
ocxiv 

Hflijjiyak, Pass of. 592. 594 

Hig-Tarkban {Attraean), 287, 401 

HakloyVs Odoric, 22, 29, 30 

Halaha, ccxliv 

Halwan, Halavan, a Nestorian Arch- 
bishopric, ccxliv, 179 

Haloes round Buddhist Saints, 88 

Hamadan, a Nestorian Archbishop- 
ric, 179 

Hancialix (KhanehaUik), 571 

Hangcheu, Ixxx ; see Cansay, Kkama , 
etc. 

Hannibal*s Chemistry, ecxlvi, 433 

Hansi, 406 

Harah ; see Herat 

Hardalah, the word, 470 1 

Harkand, Sea of, ciii 

Harraqah, the word, 499 

Harmakut {Himalya), 411 

Harun al Rashid's Embassy to China, 
Ixxzii 

Hasam or Jessam, 272 

Hathith, 154 

Haunted deserts, 157 

Havilah, 55 

Hawking, the Great Khau's, 135 

Hayton (or Hethum), King of Little 
Armenia, his journey to the Court 
of Mangu Khan, cxxvii, cxxviii 

Prince of Gorigos, cxzix ; his 

History of the Tartars, cxxxi ; Ex* 
tract regarding Cathay, cxcv 

Hazah (Adidbene), ccxliv, 53 

Hazrat-Imara, ccxxxvii 

Head-dress of Mongol ladies, 131 

Heat, great, at Hormuz, 56, 57 



INDISX. 



Izxix 



Heaven, city of (Camay or Hangcheu), 

113 
Henna, 304 
Henry of GUtz, a transcriber of 

Odoric, 10, 21, 37, 40 
Hens with wool, 110 
Herat, a Metropolitan See of Nesto- 

rians, zc, coxW, 179 
Herbert's Travels in part not genuine, 

466 
Hermaphrodite, 385 
Heee, John of, on Paradise, 326 
Hetbam; see flay ton 
Hiao Wuti, Emperor, liv 
Hiarchan (Yarkand), 562, 563 $eqq. 
Hill in Malabar, ocli, 418, 451 
Hindus ; theism of, 194 ; China 

wheUier anciently known to, xxxiv 
Hindu Kusb, Odoric's passage of, 

157; Ibn BatuU's, 403; Goes's 

route across, 540; on Passes of, 

592 teqq. 
Hiongnu, Ut, Iv 
Hippopotamus teeth, dzzv 
Hira, frequented by ships of China, 

Izzviii, but see cozli 
Hisar Shaduman, cl, cczi 
Hiwen Thsang's travels, Izzii; his 

geography of the Upper Okus, 

oczzziv ieqq. 
Hoang Ho, 125; its great floods, 

change of course, etc., i5., 146; 

this river and its fabled sources, 

350-51, 477 
Homerite^ clziz $eqq. 
Honey (i.e. iugar), sorts of, 91 

Trees producing, 90, 212 

Honor, Onore, 450 ; see Hunawar. 
Hopkinsonius on Terrestrial Para- 
dise, 326 
Horma, 571 
Hormuz,the Terminus of China Trade, 

Izzviu, 56, 215, 400, 426 
Horn, worn by women of some ab- 
original tribe in China, 111; a like 

case, cczliii 
Horse-posts in Cathay, 137-8 
Horses; with siz legs, 136 ; Trade in, 

to South India, 219, 220, to Ceylon, 

clzzz; Great, carried to Great Khan 

by Marignolli,d39; commemorated 

in Chinese Annals, 340 
Hostelries in Cathay, 137, 130, 484, 

485 
Hnet on Terrestrial Paradise, 827 
Hulagu, his ezpediiion against Persia, 

etc, czzi; his Tomb, 193, 522 
Human sacrifices, 79, 470 ; at Tartar 

funerals, 507-8 ; in Sudan, 509 
Hunawar, 416, 421, 425, 450 



Hungaiy ravaged by the Tartars, czz, 

372 

Greater, 371-2 

Huns, White, clxiz, clzxii, clzzz; 

see Yueti and Ephthalitet. 
Hunting Matches of Great Khan, 139 
Husnabad (Lancheu), cciv 
Huz or Hub, 53; applied to Urghanj, 

234 
Hwangcbao, a succesBful rebel, erii 
Hyacinth ; see Ruby. 
HyperpercBf 403 



Iaconich, 562 

lamzai (Yangeheu), 123 

I-angheran, 558 

lofcot, the word, czzv 

Ibn Batuta, Introductory Notice re- 
garding, 397; his Voyage to China, 
ozzziv; and see Table of Contents. 

— - Juzai writes down Ibn Batuta's 
Travels, 429 

— Khurdadbah'a Notices of China, 
cviii 

— Mohalhal, his Travels, ezi; ah- 
stract, dzzzvi 

— Wahab's Visit to the Emperor of 
China, cvii 

learut River of Pliny, eczzziv 

Ich River, clzvi 

Ichthyophagi ^thiopei and Stfue, elii 

Ida Pfeiffer, 324 

Idolatry; in India, 214; ascribed to 
Catholics by Orientals, 388 

Idols, Feeding of the, 109 

lescilbas {Oreen heads, i. e. Uzbeks), 
eozvii, ccxiz 

lent {Yezd), 6i 

Igbun, 264, 265 ; see Uigur, 

Igu, 579 

Ilchi, Khotan, its position, cczzxii 

Ilchikdai, Khan of Chagatai, 185, 195 

Imil, City of, 524, 576 

Khwiga Khan. 524 

Incense Tree described, 469 

India; Chinese communication with, 
Izvi; Kingdoms of, in ninth cen- 
tury according to Arab narratives, 
clzzziii 



— Inland {Lower Buphrates), 
cczliii, 55 

Upper (for S, China), 103 

• (for 8. India), 210, 218 



Great, and Mazima (S. China), 

354, 373 

— LitUe (Malabar), 878 
Lower (Malabar), 356 

— Tertia of Jordanna is in Africa, 
182 



Ixxx 



INDBX. 



India, the term, how used hy Porta- 
gnese, &49 

Nestorian Arohbishoprio of, 

ooxlv, 179 

Climate of, etc., 210 $eqq. 

Islands of, 103 

InHian Words used by Ibn Batuta, 
408; coins mentioned by Ibn Batuta, 
ccxiv ieqq.^ 439 teqq. ; weights in 
time of, eel, 458 

and China Trade in Pliny's 

time, cost of, civil 

Indies, the Three, Probable origin 
of the expression, 183 

Indii70, 302 

Indulgences, 233 

Industry of Chinese, 105 

Inshan (Mountains), 180 

Invulnerability, how procured, 93, 94 

lolci. 671 

Iron of Seres and Chinese, xli, xlii; 
presented by Turks to an ambas- 
sador, clxiii; ships without, 67; 
weapons without, 94; lath at Dehli, 
434-6 

Irtish River, dxxxviii, ocxiii 

Isaac, servant of QoSs, 663, 662, 667, 
686 ieqq. 

Islands of India and Cathay, their 
great number, cxcv, 103, 216; sub- 
ject to Great Khan, 137 

Ismaelians, oxxi, 163 

Issikul, Lake, position of, ccxxxii 

Istambul, the name, 402 

Ivory imported to India, olxxxi 



Jaci ; see Yaehi. 

Jack-fruit, 362 

Jade, 130, 645, 666, 667, 682 

Jagdalak, 566 

Jalalabad (Afghan), 666 

(m or about Badakhshan), 

640, 659 
Jalali, 412 
Jalaluddin Tabrizi (or Shirazi), the 

Shaikh, 461; his great age and 

asceticism, his supernatural gifts, 

462 4, 498, 616 <«99. 
Jalansi, RBJa of Gandar, 414, 443 
Jalasti, Wazir and Admiral, 367, 424 
Jalish, 676 ; see Chalish. 
James of Padua, Friar and Martyr, 

61, 226 

Friar, Irish comrade of Odoric, 7 

JamV-td-Tawarihh, the History of 

Rashid, 264 
Jamjal (?), place near Peking, 268 



Jamun and Jambn diHtinct, 468 
Janci, Janku {Yangcheu), 373; see 

lamzai. 
Jandishapur, a Nestor ian Archbishop- 
ric, ccxliv, 179 
Janfu, cix 

Janibek, Khan of Kipchak, ccxxiv 
Jankila'h, ccxxxvi 
Japan, under the name of Sila, ovi ; 

of Chipankwe, 271 
Jarric's Jesuit History, 630 seqq. 
Jnsper ; ^SPB Jade, 
Jatah or G^te country, 624 
Java in Catalan Map, cexxv; de- 
scribed by Odonc, 87 seqq.; pro- 
bably the Saba of Marignolli, 323 ; 
the name applied to Sumatra and 
Archipelago generally, ccliii, 324, 
467, 611 ; not the Mul Java of Ibu 
Batuta, 468, 618 
Jawa, Jawi,467 
Jazia or Poll-tax, 411 
Jazirdht the word, 84, 619 
Jenasdan {China) ^ Ixxxii 
Jenkinson, Anthony, his journey to 

Bokhara, cxlii 
Jenpnknriani, Ixxxiii 
Jerm, 641 
Jerome, Friar, sent Bishop to Cathay, 

171 
Jerusalem, a metropolitan see of the 

Nestorians, ccxlv 
Je8i]gabus, Nestorian Patriarch, 71 
Jesuit missions in China, o, 629 uqq.\ 

their surveys, ccxxxii $eqq. 
Jews in South India, 76, 76, 214; 
in China, Ixxx, 226, 341, 497, 633 

, Statesmen in Mongol service, 

263 
Jibal'Nakut (Hill of the Bell), sound- 
ing sand in Sinai Desert, 156 
Jihun, R., 347, 348; and see Oxut 
Jikil or Szekely.clxxxvii 
Jinkshi Khan of Chagatai ; see Zenk- 

ihi 
Jinseng, ccxvi, ecxxii 
JoK's residence, 63 ; alleged tomb, 

234 
Jogis, their sorceries, 413, 601 
John XXII, Pope, 12, 49, 68 

Ferdinand, a Chinese Christian 

sent to aid Goes, 686 seqq,; de 
Cora, see Cora. 

of Montecorvino ; see Monte, 

of Yprhs ; see Yprh. 

Jonah, tomb of, 361 

Joppi, Dr. Vincenzo, ocxliii, 14, 33 

Jor, Juri, Jury a, an Indian King, 

clxxiv 
Jordanus, Friar, cxxxii, 70, 73 ; some 



INDEX. 



Ixxxi 



remarks regardiug, 184; Alleged 
martyrdom of, 18d; obronicle as- 
cribed to, 19*2; some additional 
notes to his Mirabilia^ 192 seqq, 

Jorman, Julman, a region near the 
Ural, ccxxviii-iz 

Judi, Jibid, the Ark Moantain of the 

Maboroedans, 47 
, Jugglers' tricks at the Khan's Court, 
143; at Khansa, 500, and see cczx 

Juggamath sacrifices, 88 

Jamalnddin, Shaikh, Lord of Ma'bar, 
319, 220 

Jumna, Biver, 469 

Jun (Jumna), 409 

Jnnks, the word used, 78, 356; quaint 
mitttake about, ib. ; origin of the 
term, 416-17 ; described, 417 ; 469, 
478, 4H6, 613 

Jurfaitan, 458 

Jurz or Jozr, an Indian King, clxxxiv 

Justice with a vengeance, 421 

Justin, Emperor, his exchauge of em- 
bassies with the I'urks, clx aeqq. 

Justinian, introduction of the silk- 
worm under, xlvi, clix 



Kaam (Kan, Khan, Khakan, Khagan,) 

the title, oxvii, 604 ; see Khan and 

Great Khan. 
Kaber, clxxviii 
Kabul, 656 

Kadah ((^ueddah)^ civ 
Kadranj, Kairanj, Herenj, dv, dxxzvi 
Kafobe-Ku^, 272 
'Kafiristao, dxxzv, 157, 564-5 
Kafur, Malik, his invasion uf South 

India, 217, 220 
Kahar^ the word, 408 
Kaidu Khan, rival of Kublai ; letter 

of the Pope to, 166; 178, 195, 201 ; 

his territory, and struggles with 
. Kublai, 274, 528 
Kaikhatn Khan attempts paper cnr- 

rtiucy in Persia, and fails, 290 
Kail (ancient port of bouih India), 

214, 218, 219, 221, 278, 424-5 
Kidlukari, 474, 520, 521 
Kaiminfn, 184, 260 
Kainak, 576 
Kaiphiogfa, 184 
Kuis or Kish ; see Kiih 
Kajarra, Kajraha, Kajrai, 414 
Kakam, a kind of ship, ccxlvi, 416, 

419 
Kaknla, 469 ; aloes wood of, 471 
Kaiali, kalahbar. civ, cxoi 
Knia'i ; see Qala'i. 



Kalatin bin-Shakhbar, alleged King 

of China, cxi, xii 
Kallats, Turkish tribe, dxv 
KalUana, Kallienat Kalyani, dxzi 
Kamara, 469 ; aloes wood of, 471 
Kamchu, Kamjn {KaneheUt q,y.)^ cciii, 

288. 581 
Karoaruddin Dughlak, 525, 545 
Kamru {Kamrup)^ monniains of, 461, 

464, 469; note on Ibn fiatuta'a, 

515 
Kamnin, excii 
Kamrup, invasion of, Ixxv, cxcii ; see 

also Kamm, 
Kami (the Tartar medicine-men), 176 
Kamul, Kami], Komul, co, ccxvii, 

ccxxv, 821, 890, 545, 546. 578-9 
Kanaiij, Ixix, clxxxiv, ooxxxv, 413 
Kaiibalu, Isle of, what ? ex 
Kanchana Wunga, Priuue^s in Java, 

828 
Kancbeu, coiii »9qq, ; ccxv Meqq,^ 270, 

288, 581 
Kandahar (Gandhara on Indus), Ixxii, 

clxxxv 

(Gandar on G. of Cam bay). 



414, 448 



a region of Yunan, 278 



Kangli or Kaokli Turkn, clxv, coxi 
Kanjanfu {Kianchangfu), 408, 510 
Kanp'hu ; see Khanfu. 
Kansan {Kenjan^ q.v., or Singanfu)^ 

148 
K9^H-8ang-i'Ka$h, 565 
Kant a, ex 
Kanyug sent to reconnoitre the Bo> 

man Empire, Iv ; fails, Ixi 
Kanli, Kauli, Koli fCorea), ccxxv, 257, 

268, 271 
Karachil,Kalaichal {Himalya), 410-11 
Kanyang (Yunan), 269,278 
Karakalisa, 800 

Kara Khitai, ccxii, 176, 178, 578 
Karakhoja, cc, 275 
Kara Koruni, cxxiii, cxxv, cxxviii, 

cexii, 506, 510 
Karamit Merchant gnild so called, 

480 
Karamnren ; see Caramoran and 

Hoangho 
Karangiii Tagh, 565 
Karani, the word, 474 
Karashahr, 544, 546, 572, 575 6 
Karatau, ccxii 

Karategin, cxcix, cl, ccxxxiv teqq. 
K>irau1, cxxxvii, ccii, 579 
Karazan ; see Karajang, 
Karchn, 568 
Kargu, or Beacon Towers in China, 

188; the word, 189 





Ixxxii 



INDEX. 



Karhadan (Rhinoceros), nlzzzr 

Karkha, cinliv 

Karligh, Karlakb, Kharlik, a Rreat 
Turkish tribe, Ixv, clxzxix, 579 

Kannisin, ccxxiz ; and see Errata 

Eamabul, oziv 

Karwan (for Parwan\ 658 

Kasghara, cut 

Kashamghara (Chasemghar) and 
Nanakath (Noaehet), a Neatorian 
Archbishopric, ccxlv, 179 

Kasbgar, cxxvii, cczi, ccxvii; position, 
cczxxii; a Nfstorian Archbishopric, 
ocxlv, 170; 533, 544; history, 545 
uqq,, 546. 556, 568 

Kashibin, clxxvi 

Kathiih, Kashiiha, the word, xciii. 
568 

Kasbmir, communication of, with 
China, Ixix, cxcii 

Kasia HilU, cxW, 516 ; their people, 
518 

Keuturi (Musk), clxxiy, clxxviii 

Katanr, 554 

Katban (?), ?73 

Katif; see AUKatif. 

Katighora, cxiv 

Katulphus, the Epbthalite, clxi 

Kankan, 4*28 

Kanlam (Quilon, Columbumt q.v^, cxcii, 
71,418,420,454,479.513 

Kaveripatam, clxxviii 

Rawadian, Kabadian, c1, ccxxx? ^ 

Kawe, cell, 414, 443 

Kayalik; see CaUae. 

Kay an Kulani, 454 

Kayans of Borneo, 91 

Kazan or Gazan, Kban of Cbagatai, 
188, 189, 525 

Kazemn, Shrine of, ccliii, 487 

Keaking, Will of Emperor, 125 

Ken Khan, 177 

Kenchak, city of Tnrkestan, ccxii 

Kencban, Kenjang, Kanchan, Qnen- 
gian (Sijiganfu), oxzxvii, 148, 269 

Eerait Horde of Tartarn, their con- 
version to Christianity, xcviii, 179, 
317; 147; 200 ; their chief an ori. 
ginal of Prester John, 175; their 
position in Tenduc, 180 

Kerith, King of, 179 ; see preceding 

Kbaigbun, cxiv 

Kballach or Killich, 558 

Khan, the title; see under Kaan, 

Khan, the Great ; see Great, 

Khanbalik or -baligh (CambaUe, Pe- 
king), a Nestorian Archbishopric, 
ccxlv, 179; 257 8eqq.,'L77^ 503 ieqq.; 
see Catnbalec. 

Khanily, Island of, cxiv 



Khanfti, Kanp'hu, Port of Kingss^ or 

Hangchen, Ixxx, cv, dx, cxiii, cxdii, 

ccxlii, 106 
Khanikn, 503 
Kban«^a {Kingue^ Khingtai, Khanjat^ 

Caruay, etc., bod. Hangcheu), Ixxz, 

oxciiiiv, ccxliii, 114, 259, 268, 270, 

273, 463 4, 495 seqq., 510; see 

Camay f etc. 

, The Arabian Poetess, 495 

Khanzai, see preceding 
Khariab (Ozns Feeder), ocxzxiv »eqq. 
Kharliks, see KarUgh 
Khat-Anguthtj or Finger Signatore, 

266 
Khathlakh, clxxxix 
Khatiyan, clxxxix 
Khawak, Pass of, 592, 593 
Kbidr, The Prophet, 391 
Kbingsai, 259, 268 ; see Khama 
Khinjan, 593, 594 
Kbitai, the name, cxvi, cxix, 257, 503 ; 

heard of by the Jesnits in India, 530; 

see Cathay 
Khitan Dynasty, Khitans, cxvi, 127, 

178, 239 
Khizil[ji Turks (supposed misreading 

for Kharlakhi), cxiv, ocxxxvi 
Khmer {Camhodia)^ 519 
Khotan, xlvi, cxvi, clxxxix, ccxi, 523, 

545, 546, 556, 5656.7; see Ikhi 
Khubdan, dty of Taugas {Changgan 

or Singanfu), li ; see Khumdan 
Khudaidad, 525, 545-6 
Kbulum, Ixxi, 558, 596 
Khumdan, Kumdan, name anciently 

given by Western Asiatics to 

Changgan, li, xciii, cvii ; as the 

name of a River, cxiii 
Khutl, or Kbntlan, ccxxxiv $eqq. 
Kbuzistan, 53 
Khw^ja Jaban, 357, 424 
Khw^as of Kasbgar, 542, 547 
Kbwarizm, Sea of, (Aral), ccxxxv 
Khjens of Arakan, 466 
Kiang, the Great River, 121, 350 
Kiangcb^, Province of, 137, 270 
Kiriyukoan, north.west gate of the 

Great Wall, odi, 579 
Kidifu, Ckidibeo, 138, 139 
Kif perl's Map of Asia, cczxzi ieqq. 
Kiesie, Aides de-Camp to Mongol 

Emperor, 135 
Kilagai, 594 
Kila'h Chap, ccxxxvi 
Kiilakarat, 425 
Kimak, Khimak, a Turkish race, 

clxxxvii 
Kimkhica, Kamkha, etc. (Cammooca 
q.v.), 295, 486 



INDEX. 



Ixxxiii 



Kin, or Golden Dynasty, cxvii, 127 
Kinfira, 50 

Kinbaiat (Camhay, q. v.), 413 
Kinchi, Gold Teeth, see Zardandan 
Kings of the Kartb, Great, olxzziii, 

King8s6 (Hangeheu) see Cansay 

Khanna, etc. 
Kinsban, 152 « 

Kipcbak, TurkiBh tribe, clxv 
— ^-^ Western Mongol Empire, its 

limits, cxzi, 238, 401 

> Pass of, in Hinda Easb, 



592 

Kircber, Athan.; translates tbe Sin- 
ganfa Inscription, xcii; 548 

Kirgbiz, clxxxviii, 271 

Eisb or Eais, Island of, terminas of 
the China trade, Izxviii; error re- 
garding, cxv : 52, 219, 220, 400 

Kishm, Island of, cxv, and 52 

Kisbiiabad, 593 

Kiami, Kinmitho, ol 

Kiivamaddin of Centa, called AI- 
Bnsbri, bis singular meeting with 
Ibn Batata, 494 

Klysma (Suez), clxxii 

Kizilbash, ccxix 

Kobad, King of Persia, bis embassy to 
China, Ixxxiv 

Koh-i-Baba, 593 

Kob>i-Khanam; 559 

Daman, 157 

Koilandi, 454 

Kokcha River, ccxxxvi 

Ko\\Koel or Aligarh), 412, 414 

Koleobi, 531 

Kolii of ancient Geography, 845 

Komar, 469 

Komedit see Comedi 

Konkan, the, clxxxiii 

Eonkan-Tana, ocxxx 

Kophen Biver (Enban), clxvi 

Eomegalle, 423 

Eosseir, 400 

Eota (Kotta), Ceylon, 369 

Eotow exacted firom ambassadors, 
Ixxxi, Ixxxii, coiii, ocvi 

Eotroba, a metropolitan faee of tbe 
Nestorians (supposed Soeotra^ q. v.), 
coxlv, 179 

Eowelaki, 272 

Erim, 401 

Euanyin, Virgin Goddess of Chinese 
Buddhists, 393 

Kuber, in Negroland, 509 

Eublai Khan ; demands homage from 
certain Indian States, Ixxvi; com- 
pletes conquest of China, oxxi ; em- 
pire directly subject to him, i6. ; 



establishes residence at Peking, 127, 
257; his palace at Shangtu, 134, 
260 ; his passion for curiosities, 136 ; 
makes the great canal, 259 ; adopts 
Buddhism as state religion, 141 ; 
Letters of the Pope to, 166; bis 
death, 197 

Euch Bihar, 534 

Euoha, Euch^, 545, 573 

Euelinfu, 272 

Euen Lun, 543 

Eukah {Gogo), ccxlix, 415, 443 

Kulam-Male, 72 

Eumara, 469, 519 

Eumbasbi, 571 

Kumblah,451 

Eumdan, xciii; aeeKhumdan 

Kumid, cl 

Eumin, Nikulun, a Byzantine in 
China, Ixv 

Eumtab, 450 

Kumuk, tribe and district oortb of 
Darband, 233 

Eunakar (KornegaUe), 423 

Eunduz, 595 

Eunstmann, Professor F., on Odoric, 
etc., 39, 72, 167-8, 171, on Marig- 
noUi, 330 

Eurdistan, relics of Nestorian Mis- 
sions to China in, xcvii 

Eurtai, Viceroy of Ebansa or Hang- 
eheu, 498 

Eush, see Hindu Kiuh 

Eusban, Pass of, 594 

Eutaiba's conquests on Chinese fron- 
tier, Ixxx 

Eutb Minar at Dehli, 433*4 and see 
ccxlvii 

Euyuk Ehan, cxxvii 



Lackbbbd ware, 502 

Ladakh and Balti, Ixx, 535 

Ladies at Mongol Court, head-dresa 

of, 131 
Lahari on Indus {Lahori Bandar)^ 

404 
Lahore, 532 uq., 553 
Lake into which offerings were oast, 

ccxliii, 82 
Laknauti,-ccli, cclii, 459, 464 
Lama, Grand, 149, 241 
Lamb-plant of the Wolga, Ivii, 144 
Lambri, Lamori, Lamuri (in Sumatra), 

ecxiiii, 84, 273 
Lancheu, cciv 
Langtin, 361 

Laiikhabulns {Nicohar Islands), civ 
Lanterns, Feast of, ccviii, 394 

P2 



Ixxxiv 



INDEX. 



Laonietis ChalcoDdylas, hia strange 
geography, liii, and extraordinary 
statements on English manners, 
clzxxix 

Lar, Sea of, ciii 

Lassen's Indian Antiquities, vol. iv, 
remarks on passages in, 417, 445 
ieqq, 

Latin conqaest of Asia, prophecy of, 
230 

Chorch In Malabar, 344 

of MarignolH and Jordanns, 331 

Latitudinarian notions of Chinese, 

224 
Lean or Iron Dynasty, cxvi; see 

Khitan, 
Leblanc's Travels in great part not 

genuine, 466 
Lee's Ibn Batata, ccxivii, cc1i,420,438 
Le<>ch, Major, on Pasnes of the 

Hindu Ensh, ocxxzi, 503 
Leeches, Plague of, in Ceylon, 99 
(i. e. Doctors) at the Khan's 

court, 133 
Lelda, Leuda^ the word, 285 
Lemon, Master, of Genoa, an astro- 
nomer, 383 
Lemons against leech bites, 99 
Length of Ibn Batuta's Travels, 429 
Lenzin {Linching), 125 
Leo the Isaurian sends an Embassy 

to China, Ixiv 
Letters of Prester John, 175 ; for 

other Letters, see Table of Contents. 
Lhassa, 148; uncertain position of, 

149 
Library, Lauren tian, ci; at San 

Daniele, II 
Lighthouse in Persian Gulf, Ixxix 
Lignitz, Battle of, cxx 
LignOf Dominut regnabit a, the text, 

368 
Limyrice, cxliv 
Lincegam, 126 
Lindsay, Robert, 515 
Lingan {Hangeheu), 113 
Lingui of Polo, 126 
Lintsincheu, 126 
Lions; Black, 58; Trained, at Khan's 

court, 143 
Liruti on Odoric, 18, 37 
Literary Information regarding China 

previous to Mongol era, ci ; see 

Table of Contents. 
Lohaei, for Lamas, 149 
Log, Legend of St. Thomas and a 

huge, 374 
Lohac of Polo, 521 
LohoCt the word, 69 
LomeliCt the word, 65 



London (in Pegolotti). 307 
Longevity ; in North China, 126 ; of 

Musulroan Saints, 461, 490 
Longitudes of places adjoining the 

Bolor Mountains, and their dis- 

crepancieM, ocxxxii 
Lop, City of, 544 
Lo\ang, cvii 

Lucan on the Serei, xxxix 
Lucchino Tarigo, his biiecAneeritig 

exploit on the Caspian, 50 
Lucnlongo, Peter of, 207 
Luddur Deo Raja of Tilinga, 221 
Lnjac or Luchac, 272 
Lukin, cix, cxiii 
Lukinfu. cix, 268, 270, 272 
Lnmkali. cix, 268, 270, 272 
Luristan, 53 



Ma'bar ( Mobar, Maabar, Mohabar — 
the southern part of the east coast 
of Indian Peninsula), xcvi; sends 
homage to Kublai, Ixxvi-vii, SI ; 
its position, ib.; wealth of its 
temples, tb., 212, 215; its state at 
end of thirteenth century from co- 

' incident statements of Polo and 
Persian authors, 218 seqq.; d« fined, 
219; Route'* from, to Cathay. 273; 
Sultan of, 357, 424 ; 374, 407, 41 2 ; 
erroneously placed on west coast of 
peninsula, 445; City of (so styled), 
216, 218. 425 

Mttbad or May ad, clxxxvi 

Macao, 582, 590 

Macartney's Map in Elr>hin8tone's 
CaubttZ, ccxxxi uqq.^ 543, 563 

Machin, Mahachin, the name, origin 
and confusions, cxix-xxi ; Ixviii ; 
lo4, 105; sometimes means the 
City of Canton, 106, 259, 273 

Maclagan, Col. Robert, cexlvii 

Madura, 424 

Maes Titianus, his -consignments to 
the Seres, cxlviii 

Magellan clouds, 324 

Magi, the Three, 50, 51 

Mahaban, clxxxv 

Mahabharat, Chinas in the, xxxiv 

Mahachin; seo Maehin. 

Mahachinasthana, Ixviii; see Machin. 

Mahang, K. of China, xxxv 

Mahe, 453 

Mahomed ; Blunder about his burial 
place, 66; his address to Mary, 393 

Ibn Kasim's Conquests in 

India, Ixxxi 

luglilak, Sultan of Pehli, 



i-» w — — V 

ccX'i i, cclii; tries to invade China 



INDEX. 



Ixxxv 



across the Himaloyn, Ixzv, 41 1, 439 ; 
his currency and PreHks a^ioat it, 
coxWii »eqq., 291 ; bis character, 404; 
alleged parricide, ib. ; Kends em- 
bassy to China, Ixx?, 411 teqq.,4tb9; 
abolishes customs, 484, 604 

Khun, of Kashgar, 646, 605 

ShaibsDi, 620 



Mahnmedans id ChinB, lx:zx,497, 634; 

their devontness, 384; and brotherly 

feeling, 397 
Mahomedanism professed by no Mon- 
gol Emperor of China, 141 
Mahrattas, 416 
Maidan, the word, 68 
Mailapnr, 374; native legends of, 876; 

see St. Thomai» 
Maitreya or Maidari Buddha, cxzix 
MaJApahit in Java, Empire of, 323 
Majar, City of, on the E. Kama, 238, 

401 
Major, Mr. R. H., vi, 30 
Makhna, a tuskless male elephant, 

clzzxi 
Malabar (Minibnr, Mnlebar, etc.) ani 

its customs, 74 seqq.^ 210, 342, 850, 

373, 4J 6 ; Review of the Medieval 

Ports nf, 450 seqq. ; see Male. 
Malahathrum, cxlv.vi 
Matatolta, MaletoulU^ the word, 240, 

285 
MflMive Islands, olxxvii ; Female 

sovereignty on, 322 ; visited by Ibn 

Batuta, 422, 425.6 ; names of their 

gro^ips as he givps them, 437 
MaU (Malabar), clxxi, c'xxviii, ccxliii, 

72 
Malifftttsn (Molephatam, Manifattan), 

1H4, 214, 219,425 
Malik A1 Zahir, K. of Sumatra, 468, 

51011 
Malik Yuzbek invades Kamnip, Ixxv, 

516 
Mawhroni'Cini^ ccxvi 
Mamigonian Family, Chinese Descent 

of, Ixzxiii 
Manaar, Gulf of, 216 
Mancasola, Thomas of. Catholic 

Bishop of Samaroand, 192 
Mandeville, his thefts from Odoric, 

27-28. 398 
Manekir {Minnctgara)^ clxxxiv 
Mangalor, 413, 461 ; see Mangaruiht 

Manjarur. 
Mangaruth, dxxviii, 451 
Mango fruit, 362 
Manga Khan, cxxi, cxxv, cxxvi, cxxvii, 

cxxviii, 177. 257 
Maniach, chief of Sogdia, ambassador 

to Byzantiam, clxii ieqq. 



Manifattan, 426 

iManjamr, 451 

ManjeshwarRm, 461 

Manjusri, Ixxi 

Mank, Mnnkan, cexxxv 

Mann, Value of, 458 ; see Maund. 

Manning's Journey to Lhassa, 149 

Mansura, czoii, ccxli 

Mann, Chinas named in Laws of, 
xxxiv 

Manuscripts of Odoric, cczlii, 18, 21 ; 
list, 29 $eqq.; of Marignolli, 334; 
of Ibn Batuta, 480 

Manzi, Manci, Mangi (Southern 
China), the name, cxviii; origin of 
the name, 103 ; its vast number of 
cities and population, 104, 854; 
137, 267 teqq., 272, 842, 878 

Maps in this work. Notes on the, 
ccxxii ieqq. 

Maragha,226; Catholic Bishop of, 226 

Marallo, olxzviii 

Maramati, the word, 396, 806 

Maranel, Marabia, 463 

Marava, Marawa or Marawar, olzxviii, 
220; BeeMa*bar. 

Marchesino of Bassano, his remini- 
scence of Odoric's stories, 8, 21, 160 

Marching in India in 1340, 407 

Marcianus of Heraolea, xxxvii teq; 
praised undeservedly, zxxviii, dii 

Mare Majutj 44 

Mare Maurum^ 44, 196 

Margarita, the word, 81 

Marignolli, John de', Legate to the 
Great Khan, cxxxii, 72, 172; Bio- 
graphical Notices of, 311 ieqq.; 
his Recollections of Travel, 336 
ieqq. ; see Table of Contents. 

Marinns of Tyre, xxxvii, clxvii ieq. 

Mark Steriing, Value of, 381 

Markham, Mr. C. R., vi, ccxliv 

Marrak, Bara^ Mole, a Tartar measure 
of dibtance, ccix 

Marriage Customs in Chaldea, 66; 
at Tana, 69 

of Tartar Chiefs with Greek 

Princesses, 403 

Martaban Jars, 476 

Martyrdom of Four Franciscans at 
Tana in Salsette, 67 ; history of it, 
60 ieqq. ; date of it, 68 ; the same, 
173,225,226,230; of six Franciscans 
and another at Almalik in 1339, 180, 
338; of Stephen, a young friar at 
Sarai, 233; of two Franciscans in 
Tartary in 1362, 183 ; of ten thou- 
sand Christi&ns in Armenia, 198 

Marw, a Nestorian see and arch- 
bishopric, x«', ecxlv, 179 



Ixxxvi 



INDEX. 



Ma8tai]g, Mastoob, ooxzx? 
Mas'adi.ex; his Travels and Notioes 

of China, ih. 
Masnlipatam, 221 
Matheu, the word, 136, 268 
Mattiassi, family name of Odorie, 3 
Maonds (Mann), varioos, 296; Indian, 

coli, 408 
Maury, M. Alft«d, his Geography of 

the Arab Relationif eiii 
Mayandnr, 451 
MeantH^, 110 
Mecca; Belief that Mahomed was 

bnried at, 66; 898, 399, 400, 426, 

556 
Modes, Empire of, Term applied to 

the Empire of Ghagatai, ccxziv, 183, 

234, 237 
Mehran (Ifuluf), Ixxix 
Meinert, J. O^ Commentator on Ma- 

rignolli, 322, 830 
Mela, PompoDius, on Seres, zl; the 

Passages extracted, cliii 
Melegeta^ the word, 88 
Meliancota, 454 
Meliori Foro, the phrase, 106 
Melon producing a Lamb, 144 
Memak, a district of Kipchak, 283 
Mena ; see Maund. 
Menander Protector, Extract from, 

regarding interooarse of Turkish 

Khans with Byzantium, clx teqq, 
Meoentiilus of Spoleto, Letter from 

Friar, 209 
Menzn (probably Mingeheu, i. e. Ning- 

po), 124 
Merdaeat, name applied to Jade, 130 
MerdachoBciaf name applied to Silk, 

%b. 
Mergeo, 450 
Mesetelecb, 571 
Mesmeric Influence in Fourteenth 

Century, 492 
Mesopotamia, 351 
Metaxa^ the word, 130 
Metropolitan Sees of the Nestorians, 

ocxUt Mg., 179 
Michael Ducas, Supposed Mission 

firom to China, ]xv 
— — PaliBologus treats about the 

Union of the Churches, 166 
Michael, a Friar, Posthumous miracle 

of Odoric on, 11 
MUiareiion^ dxxix 
Milk, Trees that give, 244 
Millestorte of Odoric, 153; but see 

ccxxix and ccxUii 
Mitig Emperors, Ixv, Ixxiii, ccxv ; 

abandoD and re-occupy Peking, 127 ; 



suicide of the last, 129; their re- 
stricted Empire, 525 

Mingieda, 571 

Minor Friars ; see Fr€Mci$can. 

Minibar, Mynibar, Minnbar (Afolabor), 
74, 215-16, 356, 378-4; see Malabar. 

Minneri Mandal, 423 

Minoechi^ 136 

Mints or Treasuries in Cathay, 245, 
481 

Miracles, alleged, of Odoric, 8, 10, 11, 
12, 162; by bones of friars, 70 uqq,\ 
by St. Nicholas's finger, 329; at 
tomb of St. Thomas, 376 

Mirapolis {Mailapwr^ Madras), S74; 
see St. ThomoM, 

Mirjai, mountain furnishing Jade, 130, 
565 

Mirjau, 450 

Mirza Ulugh Beg, 525 

Missions to pacify the Tartars, cxzl ; 
First to Cathay, 166 uqq.\ see 
Frdneitcani, Jetuitt, Monteeorvino^ 
MUiionary^ etc., etc 

Missionary Friars, Letters and Be- 
ports of, 197 §eqq.; see Table of 
Contents. 

Labours of Odoric, alleged, 7 

Moal (for Afon^ol), 177 

Mobar (Ma'bar q.y.), 80 

Mocools ( Mongols), 287, 288 

Modilial (Mudiliar), the word, 381 

Moghan, Plain of, 50 

Mogor, the terra, 549 

Mohabar {Ma^bar q.v.), 167 

Molephatam, 184; see Malifattan, 

Moluccas, 447 

Monasteries and Monks, Buddhist, 
11)8, 208, 242, 354, 359, 360, 367, 
868 

Mongol Conquests, cxrii seqq,; Dy- 
nasty in China, cxv seqq. ; its Fall, 
cxxxiv 

Empire divided, cxxi 

Khans, their diplomatic com- 
munications with Europe, cxxx 
Expeditions to Java, 87 



Mongols, Cathay under the, from 
Rashiduddin, 257 seqq.; and see 
Table of Contents. 

Monkey Mountains, 477 

MonsoL (Mosul), 351 

Monsters and Strange Beasts, 136, 
213, 378 seqq.; in the Cloister at 
Cansay, 119,884 

Montecorvino, where, 165 

John of, Archbishop of 

Carabalec, cxxxii, 147, 160; Bio- 
graphical Notice of, 165 seqq, ; 



INDEX. 



Ixxxvii 



Letters of, 197, 203,210,222,228, 
247; his death, 249, 815, 336, 341 

MoDtecroce, Rioold of, cxxzii 

Monteniani, a devotee of Odorio, and 
hifl verses, 15 

Montereale, Coant P., 13 

MoDtgomerie, Captain J. G., data ob- 
tained by, as to position of Yarkand, 
etc., cexxzii seqq. 

Monument of Odorio, 11, 13, 14 

Moors in China, singular meeting of 
two, 494 

Morda Sangue, the word, 804 

Moses of Chorene on China, Izzzii 

Mosque, Forcible driving to, 422, M9 

MoBtansir, Sultan of Egypt, 349 " 

Mostasim Billah, Murder of Khalif, 
461 

Mosul, a metropolitan see of Nesto- 
rian Church, ocxliv, 351 

Moukhine, Mr., oczzxi 

Mountain, Old Man of the, 153 uq. 

of Ceylon (Adam'i Peak q. v.), 

846, 353, 354, 858, 422 

Mu'awiyah ; Siege of Constantinople 
by, Notes in Chinese Annals, Ix; 
492 

Mubids or Ouebers, xovi 

Muhvpat the term, xcvi 

Muldhidah, the term, 154 

Mulehet, Mulhet, Country of Assas- 
sins, 154 

MulJawa, 468; identified, 518 ieq, 

Mnltan, cxcii, 404, 406 

Musical maidens, service by, 152 

Musk animal, olxxiv, ccxxi 

Muitif a fruit, 86 

Musulmans in China; see Mahome' 
daru, 

Miutakkraj, 505-6 

Mutfili (Mutapali), ccxxx, 221 

Muwang, Emperor of China travels to 
the West, xxxv-vi 

Mutoattah, what, 494-5 

MuzArt, 572 

MtuirU, 374 



N AC CHI and Naeehettif the words, 

295, 806 
Nadbarbar, 415 
Nails, custom of wearing long in 

Manzi, 158 
Naiman Horde, olii, 178 
Naked Folk, Island of, 194 

in Nicoveran, 97 

— ^-^— in Sumatra, 85 
Nakh, the word ; see Nacchi. 
Nalopatana, clxzviii 
Nanchangfii, 125 



Nangkiass {South China), liii, oxviii 

Nanking, cxxxviii, 120 

— — - Namkiog (KaiAingfu),ocxlyi, 

268 
Naoshirwan's interooorse with China, 

Ixxxv 
Nard and Malabathrum confoanded, 

cxlv 
N argil (oooo-nut), 353, 862 
Naticci, the word ; see Nacchi 
Nasiraddin, Sultan of Ma'bar, 424 
Nauakath,a Nestorian Aroh bishopric, 

ocxlv, 179 ^ 

Ndurki, the word, 507 
Nazareth, Diocese of, 829 
Negrais, 466 
Neleynda, 451 
Neliseer, 451 
Nellore, 219 
Nemnai, Nemptai {Nanking) y oxxxvi, 

cxxxvii 
Nestorian church, spread of, in Asia 

and specially in China, Ixxxviii 

$eqq, ; see Table of Contents 

Metropolitan Sees,ccxliv,l79 

— ■ Envoy to the Pope in 15th 

century, oxxxviii-ix 
Nestorians at Tana in India, 60 ; in 

Ma'bar, 81; in China, 128, 197, 

198, 204, 248; in connexion with 

Prester John, 174 Hqq.\ see Chrit- 

tianty Chriitianity 
Nganking, ocxlv 
Nicholas IV, Pope, 341 
Friar, appointed Archbishop 

of Cambalec, 172, 188 

of Bantra, or of Apulia, ap- 



pointed a Bishop to Cathay, 170; 
but dies on the way out, 171, 225 
of Pistoja, a Dominiean, 



dies in India, 167, 197, 210 
Nicobar Islands, civ, 466 ; and see 
Nicoveran (Nieobarjt 97 
Niger, Biver, 428 
Nikitin's notices of China, cxli 
Nikpha, Sea of, cxiv 
Nilawar(i^«Z2orf),219 
Nile ; sources of, elxxi ; the King of 

Abyssinia's power to divert it, 183, 

ai8.50; flows uphill, 432 
Nileshweraro, 451 
Nili, men of, arrive in China, xxxvi 
Ninarkawal, 425 
Nine Provinces, a name for China, 

cxxxix 
Nineveh, ruins of, 351 
Ningpo, 124 
Nisibip, a Metropolitan See of the 

Nestorians, ccxliv 
Noah's Ark. 47, 301 



Ixxxviii 



INDKX. 



Noah's distribution of the earth, 871 

Nomitma, dzxix, elzzx 

NoUola, the word, 59 

Nubia, 168 

Naaohet ; sen Ifauakath, 



Obollau, termiDas of Chinese trade, 
Ixxviii, &5 

Oocam, William, 832 

Ocean, terrors of the great, olzviii 

Odorio, Friar, of Pordenone, czzzii ; 
biographiral noticeii of, 1 B^qq- (see 
Table of Ck>nteots); travels of, 48 
seqq, (see ditto) ; wriiioKS errone- 
ously ascribed to, 17, 105; allnded 
to by MariKnoUi, 343, 380, 884; his 
pas^iage of Hindu Kush, 525 

Oeeh, River, olxvi 

Ohind, Izxii 

Oitogmoh Gazo, 573 

Okkodai, Oktai, reign of, cxviii; death 
of, cxx, 257 

Old Man of the Mountain, 158 

O^aitu, Khan of Persia, v ; letters of 
to Kings of France and England, 
cxzzi ; tomb of, 49, 254 

Olobet Ebadascan, 560.1 

Olopan, th^ name, xciv 

Oitrarre (Otrar), 287, 296 

Olug-Beg, cc teqq. 

Orange, the word, 58 

Orderly administration of China al- 
ways stiODgly impressed eantem 
nations, oviii 

Organci (Urghanj, q.v.), 238, 287, 288, 
294, 296 

Orfcana, Princess Regent of Chagatai, 
522 

Organisation, in Chinese manner, of 
states in Central Asia, Izzxvi 

Organum of Rubruqnis, ocziii ; expla- 
nation of the name, 522 

Ormes (Hbnnuz), 56, 215, 380 

Orpelian family, Chinese descent of, 
Ixxziii 

OrrhothOt clxxviii 

Ortus, 146 

Ossethi of Caucasus identified with 
Alans, but disputed, 317 

Ostriclies with two heads, 136 

Othman Bin Affan, 496-7 

Othmani plumo, 478 

Oirar, cxxviii, 2«7, 296 

Ottokar of Bohemia, 3 

Ottorocorkai, cli 

Oxen held sacred, 78, 97. 213 

Oxnn, River: question as to identity 
of its main source, ccxxxiii seqq. ; 
350, 562 



Pacamubia, 451 

Pagano della Torre, Patr. of Frioli, 10 

Pagnioi, author of book Delia Dtfctma, 
279 

Pahur^ the word, Ixxxiii 

Pala and ArUna of P4iny, not the 
Plaintain, 194 

Palace of Great Khan at Cambalec, 

« 128 $eqq^ 505 §eq, 

Palam, 4u6 

Palankin, 844. 366 

PaUtine Library, Florence; Co^^mo- 
graphia of, and its real date, 
oxxxviii; MS. of Odorio, 34, 40, 
and Appendix No. II. 

Palestine, itineraiy of, ascribed to 
Odoric, 17, 18 

Palm leaves used to write on, 367, 
449 

Palur, 454 

Pamir, Plateau of, ocxxxiv, 530, 541, 
542, 562, 568 

Panchao conquers states of Tur- 
kestan, Iv 

Pandarani, 458 

PHudua, ccli 

Paniehiero, the word, 286 

Panjah, or Upper Oxuh, ccxxxiii »tqq, 

Panjshir, Panchshir, river and valley, 
157, 408, 558, 592 $eqq, 

Panten, Land of, 90 

Pantheon of Godfrey of Viterbo, 852 

Paper, Chinese, crxxi 

Paper-money of China, cxxvi, cx<*vi, 
cxeix, 115, 144, 245, 28U teqq., 294, 
48(' $eq., 491 

Paradise, Terrestrial, according to* 
C^smas, xlviii, clxviii, 218; medie- 
val ideas of, 825 9tqq,\ near Ceylon, 
846 ; rivers of, 346 $eqq. ; trees of, 
852 $tqq, 

of the Old Man of the 

Mountain, 158-4 

Paravanor, 454 

Paremporam, 454 

Parliament of Friuli, 2, 16 

Paroco ( Baroeh), 226, 227 

Parroeia^ the word, 308 

Parsis in China, Ixxx, xuvi, 497 

Psrthians, xlv 

Partit clxxviii 

Partridges, flights of tamo, 45 

Parwan (Afghanistan), 403, 540, 558, 
592, 594 

(near Gwalior), 418 

Paryan, 593, 595 

Pascal of Vittoria, Friar, 185; his 
martyrdom, 186, 338 ; letter from, 
231 

Pashai (Poicia of Polo), 403, 595 



IND£X. 



Ixxxix 



Passaur (Peshawar), 6fi4 

Parses of Uindn Knsh, note on, 202 

PaUam, 422, 424 

Patricias (Mar-Aba), Patriarch of the 
Nestorian Church, xlviii, cczli 

Pattaii or Fattan in South India, 214; 
see FtUtan 

Patian in Gi:uarat, 532 

PatU, 806 

Piiusanias on Seres and Silkworm, 
zli, zliv; ezract from, olvii 

Paathiur's Maroo Polo, czzz 

Peacock Throne, olziv 

Peacocks, 77, 375; of gold that flap 
their wings, 131 

Pearl fisheiien, 84 

Pearls for pounding, 305 

PccljinegH, dzzzvii 

Peepul trees reverenced, 307 

Pegolotti, Francis Baldaoci, czzziv; 
Intruductiun, 279 ieqq, ; Notices of 
L^nd Route to Cathay, etc., from 
his work, 283 teqq.; see Table of 
Contents. 

Peyua, the word, 193 

Pein of Polo, 545 

PeUieeat and Filietoi, Scripture cri- 
ticism by MarignoUi, 353, 366 

Penances of HinduM, 82 

Penthezoire, 146 

Pepper plant, etc., olzzv, 74, 77, 213, 
343 

forest, 77, 843 

country, olzzTii, czoi,476 

Pera, 302 

Perath Mesenae {Basra), Nestorian 

» Archbishopric, 179 

Peregrine, Friar, appointed a Bishop 
to Cathay, 170, 222-3 

Perepen Angari, 454 

Perim Island, 443 

Periplus of the Erythrsan Sea on 
Thin, zzzvii-viti ; eziraut from, czli 

Persepolis, ruins of, 50 

Persia, Chiua in old iegendn of, zzzvi ; 
intercourse of, with China, Izzziv 
»eqq.; Chinese province bearing 
name in 7th century. Izxzviii ; the 
Mongol Empire of, cxzi 

Persian song, 499 

PerviliH {Beruwala or Barberyn), a 
port in Cnylon, 357 

Puadone, Pasidonum, the word, 284 

Peshawar, 538, 554 

Pertth taken by Tartars, czz 

Peter of Siena, Friar and Martyr, 61, 
67, 226 

— ^ of Abano, 167 

of LucoloDgo, merchant in Ca- 
thay, 207 



Peter of Florence, sent Bishop to 
Cathay, 171, 248 

Petzigaudias, Joannes, in Chinese An- 
nals, Iz 

Pendifetania (Pudipatan), 192, 458 

Pbaran, clzzii 

Philip, Physician, and Envoy to a 
Christian King, supposed of Abys- 
Rinia, 175 

Philip, Prior of Dominicans at Jeru- 
salem, 176 

Phison, river, 349 

Phoua, olzzvi 

PbocseaNova, 196 

Piaeeri, Ftume di, 157 

Piazza, the word, 286 

Pijan, 546, 675, 576, 578 

Pik, Pieco, 296 

Pilacorte, Friulan Sculptor, 16 

Pimenta, Nicholas, 549 

Pingyangfu, cczi 

Pirebandi {Vira-Pandi), 220 

Pirs, traditions of, in Silhet, 516 

Piano Carpini, John of, his mission to 
the Mongol Court, rzziii; his notice 
of Cathav, czziv, 176 

Plantain, 194, 352,361 

Pliny; on the Seres, zl; eztracts from 
on that subject, diii ; his Pala and 
Arieiia, 194 

Plums of China, 478 

Poggio Bracciolini, czzzvi-vii ; his 
account of a Nestorian Envoy to 
the Pope, czzzriii 

Poggy or Pagi islanders, 85 

Poison, strong vegetable used in Ar- 
chipelago, ul 

Poliars, 883 

Poliu, Great and Little (Ladakh and 
Balti /;, Izz 

Polo, Marco, his trnvels, czziz; 
Marsden's edition, izzz ; Pauthier's, 
ib, ; illustration of, in reference to 
Princes of Ma*bar, 218 uqq.; to 
kingdom of Mntflli and its Queen, 
221 ; quoted by Peter of Abano, 
325; his Pa8cia,408; hi8Lohao,521 

Pololo (Bolor), cczzziv 

Polumbum (for Coluwimm^ q. v.), 60 

Pomegranates, fine, 351 

Ponani, 454 

Ponteamas, 90 

Pontioo Virunio, 35 

Pontus, Sea of (for PropontU)^ 281 

Pope ; of the idolaters, 149-50, 241 ; of 
the Mahomedans, 150 ; considered 
immortal, 842 

Population ; of China, vast, 104, 243, 
339,354; of Can8ay,115; of Shensi, 
148 



xc 



INDEX. 



Porca (Parrakad), 454 

Porcelain, ovi, eix, cxiii, czcvii, 478, 

488 
phials from Egyptian tombs, 

zxxvi 
Pordenone, 3 ; painter ro styled, 10 
Port customs in China, 483 
Portraits of Odorio, 16, 17 
Portraiture, Chinese skill in, 483 
Ports of Malabar, decay of, 418 ; list 

of medieval, 450 
Portngoese, first arrival of, in China, 

cxli 
Portulano Medioeo, ccxxiv 
Posts, system of, in China, 137,240 
Potoli or Pheitoli (?) of Byzantiam, 

embassy of, to China, Istiii-iv 
Poyang, 495 

Prasrinmo, a Tibetan Goddess, 150 
Pretiter John, cxxii ; his land and city, 

140-7 ; story of, analysed, 173 »eqq», 

1\)9, 535 
Prin ing, Chinese, cozix, ceixi 
Probatica, the pool {Bethetda), 365 
Procopius, extract from, regarding in- 
troduction of silkworms, olix 
Properiius on Indian Suttees, 80 
Propheoies of Latin conquest of India, 

Provinces of the Great Khan's empire, 
136 ; twelve, 148 ; list of them, 267 
teqq. 

Pryse, Bev. W., of Silhet, 516 

Ptolemy Euergetes, xxxvii 

(CI.); on Sins, ThinsB, 

xxxvii ieqq. ; error as to Indian 



Ocean, xxxix ; on Sera and Serice, 

xl ; passages extracted, oxtvi teqq, 
Pocian (P\jan q. v.), 578 
Pudopatana, Pudipatana, olxxviii, 

447.8, 453 
Pulad Chingsang, 256 
Pulo Condore, oiv-v 
Pulovois (imaginary ?), 101 
Pulse, Chinese skill in the, cxxv 
Purohas on Oioric and Mandeville, 29 
Purchase of children to bring up 

Christians, 198, 200 
Pygmies in China, 121-2 
Pyramids, as described by Ibn Batuta, 

433 



Qaan, see Kaan 
Qala% cxoi, ccviii 
Quatrem^re's Bashiduddin, 256 
Queddah, civ 
Quengiao, see Kenjan 
Qaesitan, see Kietie 
Qmloa, 400 



Quilon, 844.5, 454, see Cobtmbum 
Qoisci, cxv, see Kith 
Quinsai, see Cantay 
Quolibey, for Kublai, coxxiv, 166 



Baba, the word, 286, but see ccxlvi 

Baba' Bashidi at Tabriz, 25 

Rabban (a monk), 60, 118, 160; see 

also 568 
Bahman, an Indian kingdom, clxxxv 
Bai, a Nestorian Archbishopric, ocxlv, 

179 
Bainstonea, c* xxxvii 
Baithu or Elim, olxxii 
Bamisseram, 218 
Bamosio's notes on Cathay after Hajji 

Mahomed, cxlii; his editions of 

Odorio, 22, 35 
Bashiduddin, 219; biographical notice 

of, 253 teqq, ; notices of Cathay ex* 

tracted from his historical cyclo- 
paedia, 257 teqq.; see Table of 

Contents 
Bats, great, 58 
BawHnson, Sir H., cexxxi 
Baymond, Patr. of Aquileia, 4 
Bazichitis, Nestorian Archbishopric, 

179 
Bebat, kingdom of, 535 
Bed Biver {Araxet), 47, 301 

Sea, 399 

Reg-Rowan, Sounding Sand, near 

Kabul, 156, 158 . 
Begio Feminarumt 324 
Beinaud's re-translation of Andennet 

ReloHofUj cii, dxxxiii 
Bejang, 20, 87 
Beligious houses in Scotland and 

England supplying wool, 307-8 
Benaudot's Anciennet Relaiiontf cii 
Besengo {Rejang), 87 
Bevolving Pagoda, cciv 
BhinoceroR, described by Cosmas, 

cxxliii ; in Western India, 1 94 
Rhoncotura (palm- wine), olxxvi 
Bhubarb in Western China, ccxv, 148, 
Bhyming double names, cxviii teqq, 
Kicci, Matthew, c, 530, 536 ; notice of 

his history, ib. ; 550, 577 
Bice-wine of the Chinese, 118; see 

Daratun 
Biohard, Bishop of Armaleo and 

martyr, 186, 338 
Bight, left, and centre, Masters of, 

Chinese titles, eix 
Biver of China, 477 
Bivers of Paradise, 327, 346 
from a common source, frequent 

allegations of, 347 



INDEX. 



XCl 



Roasting of pepper denied, 343 

Robert king of Naples, 339 

Rook-salt, Ixviii, 49, 400, 428 

Roger II of Sioiiy, cxLi 

Roman Empire, Chinese knowledge 
of, liv ieqq, 

Romania^ 292 

Rosso, Fiame (Arqxei), 47, 301 

Rabmqais, William, his mission, 
czziv ; his aooount of the Cathayans, 
cxxv; geography of his journey, 
cexi ieqq. ; his mention of Prester 
John, 170 

Rnby, of Ceylon, and enormous one 
on a spire, clzxvii ; the like in the 
hands of King of Niooverau (?) 98 

Rudrama Devi, Qaeen, 22 L 

Rukkh, the, seen by Ibn Batnta, 511 

Rum and Farang, distinctive use of 
428 

iZttOtolo, 296 

Russians, hills of the, 402 



Saba, or Sava, in Persia, 51 

, Queen of (Scripture Sheba), 

clxix 
-— — , Island of, governed by a Queen 

visited by Marignolli, 321 ieqq, ; 

identity discussed, 322-3, 340, 365, 

367 ; position of sunrise there, 383 ; 

384, 389 ; great monntein in, 391 ; 

Elias in, ih. ; and Magi, 392 
Saorithma. 561, 563 
Sadchu, cxiv 

Sadinfu (Chingtingfu), cciv 
Sadkawan (Chittagong), 458, 401 
Saggio, value of, 296, 297 
Saghanian (Cheghanianj cxxxot 
Sagina, the word, 194 
Sago, Odoric's account of, 91 
Saimur, cxcii 
Saint Anthony's at Padua, 8, 26, 96, 

159, lOO 

Christopher, images of, 81, 109 

Clare, 857 

George, Church of, in Malabar, 

344 

John not dead, belief, 196 

John's Convent at Sarai, 233-4 

Nicholas's finger, 329 

Thaddeus, convent of, in Ar- 
menia, 193 

Thomas, his alleged preaching 

in China, Ixxxix ; his tomb and 
church in Ma'bar, 81, 166, 321; 
legend of his church and great log, 
374; his death, 375; his travels, 
370; apocryphal acts of, 377 ; search 
for his bones, 378 



Sunt Thomas's Mount and the ohturch 

there, 377 
Sairam, co 
Saknia, ccxxxv-vi 
Saksak, 571 

Sukya Muni, cxxix, ociii 
Salt mines near Tabriz, 49 ; see Rock 

Salt 

, Revenue from, at Yangcheu, 121 

Salulang, Pass of, 594 

Salopatana, olxxviii 

Salutation, Chinese, 534 

Salvasiro (Sivae), 299 ^,^— 

Ssmanids of Bokhara, Ixxxvtii, en 

Samari {Zamorin, q. v.)« 416 

Samarkand, a metropolitan see of the 

Nestorians, xoi, ccxlv, 179 ; cxxvii- 

viii, ccxvii, ccxx; Catholic Bishop 

of, 192; called Semiscaut and the 

like, 192 
Samhal {Sambhat)^ Buddhist temple 

at. 410 11 
Samulcotta, 216 

San Daoiele in Friuli, library at, 11 
Sand, Sea of, 52 ; hills near Kamul, 

339 
Sands, Sounding, oexliv, 156-8, 398 
Sandabur {Ooa), ccU, 415, 421, 444, 

450 
Sandalwood, cxlvii 
Sandarfulat {Pulo Condore)^ oiv-v 
Sandu {Shangtu)^ the Great Khan's 

summer palace, 134 
Sanf (Champa) t civ, oix, cxcii, 95, 469 
Sanghin River, 260 
Sanmichele, the architect, ccxiv 
Santa Crooe, Florence, 312 
Santo Concordio, Bartholomew di, 

209 
SarabuUif the word, 55 
Saraoanco (Saraichih), 287, 288 
Saracens in India, 214 
Saraichik, 334, 287, 288 
Saragh, xciii, xciv, cxxv 
Sarai, Sara, Sarray, on the Wolga, 231 ; 

its position, ib.; 287, 204. 296, 321; 

Archbishop of, 172 ; convents at, 

2334 
SaraHnu, 402 
Sarandip (Ceylon), 273 
Sarbisaculo, 47, 300 
Sarcil, 562 
Sarc Guebedal, 571 
Saregabedal, 573 
Sarha, Port of Sumatra, 468 
Sari, Ixxxviii 
Sarikbaee, 563 
Sarikul, cxlix, 563 
Sarsuti, 400 
Sartach no Christian, 177 



zcu 



INDEX. 



Saru River in ChiDa, 477 ; in India, 

ib. 
Sail, a remote coantry of Africa, olxiz 

$eqq. 
Stttganw, ooUi, 458 
Satif for a wealthy merohant, the word, 

480 
Satin, derivation of word, 486 
Saumah, nee Sommi. 
Sayad, ccxxxvi 
Sohail, Adam, 536 
Seherpi (;), 58 
Sehiltberger's mention of Cathay, 

cxzxvi 
SchUgintweit, Adolf, 567 
SchlHgintweiffi, their map of Central 

Asia, oczzxi $eqq. 
Sctapcida, Marignolli acooants for 

Rtory of, 379, 881 
Seibetto, the word, 293 
ticif^rno, Cemoue {Shahri-nau^f 

pxzxviii, 465 
Scio, Tame partridges at, 45 
Sciavonia (in Rumilia)^ 231 
SoutUB, Johannes, on Paradiae, 346 
Scripture criticisms hy Marignolli,353, 

864 
Sculls, gohlets of paternal, in Tibet, 

1501-2 
Sea of Andaman, oiv 

of Baottc (Cojptofi), 50, see Baku 

of Sand, 52 

of Harkand, oiii 

of India, 215 

of Lar, ciii 

of Persia, oiii 

, Erythrflean, Periplns of, see P. 

-^— trade between China and India, 

Izxvi ; and Persian Gulf, Izxvii 

8eqq. 
Seal employed in fishing, 112 
Segilmesaa, 397, 428 
Sejistan, Seistan, a Nestorian Arch- 
bishopric, ccxW, 179, Ixxzvii 
Semedo, Alvareis, finds traces of former 

Christianity in China, o; extract 

from, regarding monument of Sin- 

ganfu, clzzzi 
Semiramis, story of, 388 
Semiscat, Semisoant {Samarkand), 

192 
Sempad, constable of Armenia, czzvii 
Semur, city of, 193 
Seneca on Seres, xzziz ; on silk 

textures, cliv 
Sengkili, an Indian State in Chinese 

Annals, Izzzvi-vii, 75 
Sequin, Venetian, 448 
Sera, xl, cxlvii, cl 
Serendib, ciii, 422 ; see Ceylon 



Seres, xxxiii, xxx'x 9eqq.; rfsiilt of 
ancient notices, xli ; their embassy 
to Augustus, xlii; connexion with 
silk and silkworm, xliv; fabulous 
views of ancients about these, ib. ; 
extracts from Ptolemy about, cxlvi 
teqq,; from Mela, diii; firom Pliny, 
cliii aqq.; from Pauaanias, dvii; 
firom Ammianus Marc., elviii ; from 
Theophanes, dx 
Seria, elviii 

Serice, x\^ 5^^ri ; land route to, cxlrii ; 
boundaries, di ; Alexander in, ocxlv 
Serieumf po^is^e origin of, xHv ; 
etymology according to Rubruqnis, 
rxxv 
Serinda, xlri, clix 
Sermesnacalo, 47, 900 
Serpanil, 561-2 
Serpents eaten in China, 107; how 

they go half-erect, 353 
Seiada, cxliv 
8e»tori€Ly the word, 94 
Seth and the wood of the cross, legend 

of, 365 
Sethu^ '*the Bridge" at Bamisseram, 
218 

Pa«, 218 

Seven Seas, what, 314 
^-^^ Pagodas, Ixxvi, ocxxx 
Seyllan {CeyUm^ q. v.), 346 
Shabar, son of Kaidu, 523 
Shabat or Shahait of Nikitin, 324 
Shagnan, ccxxxiii teqq. 
Shah Jalal, 515 teqq. ; see Jalaladdin 
Shah Rukh*s embassy to China, exl; 
abstract of with notes, cxdx, 138, 
575 
Shahr-i-nau {Oaur)^ cxxxviii, 465 
Shaikh of Islam, 429 

mysterious, at Sinkalan, 490 

9€qq. 
Shakyar, 571 

Shalif stufls so called, 454 
Shaliyat, 75, 454 

Shan embassies, as from Mongol 
f^overeigns, 313; to China, 564, 
582 
Shamirama Kerta, 193 
Shanju ( Chinch eu), cxdii 
Shangtu, the Khan's Summer Palace 

at, 134, 260 
Shans, 273 
Sharkhn, cxiv 
Shatpal, Pass of, 593 
Shibrtu, Pass of, 592, 594 
Shihabuddin, Shaikh, put to death by 

Mahomed Tughlak, 409 
Shihoangti, Kmperor, xxxvii 
Shikini, ccxxxvi 



INDEX. 



XClll 



Shirikali Shiokula {Cranganor)^ Ixzvii, 
75 ; see Cynkali. 

Shinta (India ur Siod) first heard of 
in China, Izvi 

Ships stitched with twine, 57, 217; 
Indian, their in8eoanty,t&.; Chinese, 
described, 417 

Shipping, vast and splendid in China, 
106, 124 

ShonghaVf a gerfalcon, ccTiii 

Sha, kingdom of, cxi 

Shuuti or TogHtemor, last Mongol 
Emperor of Chins, Ixxv, 818, 340, 
507 

Siangyangfa, siege of, czxxi, cczlii 

Sibir, ancient city near Tobolsk, 
cczziz 

Sibor, olzzviii, 227 

Sielediba (Ceylon), clzviii, clzzvi, 
meauiiig of name, t&., clzztz 

Siemisekan {Samarkand), 192 

Sihu or Western Lake at Uangcheu, 
rzciii, 110 

Sikkah, viciasitades of the word, 
ci zlvii 

Sila (Japan\ cvi, cz 

Siladit)a, King of Kananj, Iziz 

Silliet, the site of Ibn Batuta's Ha- 
bauk, etc., 515 8eqq. 

Silk of China, zli, zlii, zliv; etymo- 
logical notes about, ih, ; trade in, 
with the West, zlvi, Iviii, clzi, 
c*zviii; great cheapness, 126,480; 
price of, and of silk goods, 294-5 ; 
uztures of, anciently 8 iem to have 
been fine gaaze, cliv; nonsense 
about splitting them, ib.; richer 
modem tezturcs, 295, 486 

worms, notions of Pausanias, 

zlv; Theophylactus, lii; introduc- 
lion of into Byzantium, zlvi; ez- 
tracts from Pausauia^, clvii ; fr >ra 
Procopius, cl>z; from TheophanoM, 
olz 

, wild, of the Assyrian Bombyz 

htill used, dvi 

refuse used to make paper, cczzi 



Sillan (CeyUm), 98 

Sin zxziii, zzzvii, cziv, oczIt, and 
Ma!»in ; see Maehin. 

Siuie, zzziii, zzzvii, Izzz, czlvi, ol ; 
boundaries of, clii 

Sinaittc ii.soriptions, clzziii 

Sincapura {Singapore), 59 L 

Sind, Hind, and Zinj, the three In- 
dies, 183 

Sindabil, czi, czo 

Sindabur; aee Sandabur 

Sindar Bandi Diwar (Sundara Pandi 



Dewar), Lord of ftfa'bar, 218- 

1920 
Sindifu, czi 

Sindu (Indus), Izziz, dzzviii 
Sing, provincial administrations of 

Cathay so called, 187, 265 t€qq.; 

list of them, 267 uqq. 
Singanfu, 11, 148, 586 ; see Kenjan^ 

Ckanggan, Khumdan. 
monument of, zcii teqq.; 

and clzzzi teqq. 
Singing men and women at the Great 

Khan's Court, 143 
Singuimatu, 126 
Singuyli; see CynkaU. 
Sinhaladwipa, clzzvi 
Siukalsn, Chinkalan {Canton), 105, 

417,.447 ; see Chinkalan, 478, 487, 

488 
Sin-nl-Sin, Sinia-nl-Sin, oiz, cziii,417, 

447,477,485,487,488 
Sirikul, Lake, czlz, cczzzii ieqq,, 563 
Sitamina, the word, rlzzviii 
Sissu or Sisham wood, ib. 
Sitia, Province of, 218; probable ori- 
gin of name, ib. 
Sittarkent, 287 
Sitting in air, 501 
Siu-Simmoncota,8ome place on Coro- 

mandel coast, 216 
Siurhia, City of, Izzziii, czzv, cczli 
Siva ^amundra, 216, 217 
Si wast an {Sehwan), 404 
Siz-fingered ft>lk, 879 
Siyaposh Kafirs, 554 
Skius, coats of, MarignoUi's remarks 

on, 353, 866 
Slam at, mountain in Java, 891 
Srau><gling, punishment of, 484 
Socedat the word, cczi, 95 
Socotia, Christianity of, clzzi, 168-9, 

191 ; a Nestorian Archbishopric, 

cczlv 
Solagna, where, 159; see also William 
Solangka, north of Corea, 267-8 
Soldaia, 402 

Soldan of Babylon, legend of, 167 
Soltania (SuUania), 49 ; Archbishop 

of, 189 uqq,, 238, 255 
Sommi, the word, 288, 292 ; valae of, 

2tf 5, 298 
Soudur and Condur, civ 
Soolo or Sniuk Islands, 520 teq. 
Sopatrus, his adventure in Ceylon, 

■clzziz 
Sornau, a name for Siam, ci, cczUi 
Sornaquam, 465 

Sounding sands, cczliy, 156-8, 89<) 
Spectator, reply to lemarks in, 182 



XCIV 



INDEX. 



Spigo, 305 

SpikeDard, cxIt, clxxviii 
SpiDDiDg and knitting by men, 63 
Splitting silk stuffs to weave again, 

unfounded stories about, cliv 
Spodium, 470-1 

Spoleto, Friar Menentillus of, 209 
Sprengel on Odorio, 88; on Pegolotti, 

283 
Ssanang Ssetzen, 134 
Sujin^ a court official, covi uqq. 
Statera, the word, 343 
Stationery f the word, 120 
Steelyard, right of the privilege of St 

Thomas's Christians, 343, 377 
Stephen of Peterwaradin, a friar mar- 
tyred at Sarai, 233 
Stone Tower of Ptolemyi Qzlvii-l, 

cczi 
Strabo on Seres, xxzix, xli 
Subahlika, 227, 228 
Subara ; see Supera* 
Sucouir ; see Sucheu, 
Sucheu (in Eiangnan), cxiii, 114, 120 
— ^— - (in Ransu), also called Sulgu, 

Sukchu, Suociur, Suoieu, ooii, ocxiv 

ieqq^ 268, 270, 536, 579, 581 
Sudan, funeral rites in, 509 
Sugar, abundance of in China, 108, 

244, 478 ; from trees, 90, 212, 362 
Sugo, the word, 286 
Suhar (Oman), a port for China trade, 

Ixxiv 
Suicides of devotees in India, 83 
Sukadana, 521 
Sukchu ; see Sueheu 
Suleiman, the merchant, cii 
Suli, merchants bo called in South 

India, 420 
Sultania ; see SoUania. 
Sumatra, Island of, mentioned by 

Odoric (as SumoUra), 20, 86; by 

Rashid, 273 ; caUed Java, 324, 467; 

account of by Polo, 325 
City of, or Samudra, 86, 

468, 511 
Sumenna, an Indian state (Somnathf), 

Ixxvi vii 
Summerkent, 287 
Sumpit or blow -tube, 91 
Sumuntala, an Indian state (Dwara 

Samudra?), Ixxvi-vii 
Sunarganw, ccli, cclii, 459, 465 
Sunzumatu, 126 
Supera, Sufala, Subara, clxxviii, 70, 

227 
Surkhab, ccxxxvi 
Surma, River, 515 
Surparaka, 228 
Susah in China, cxiii 



Sutpha, birds called, clxvii-viii 
Suttee, practice of, 26, 79, 80, 97, 

436 
Suvama Bhnmi {Awrea Regio)^ cxtiv 
Syo, the word, 140 
Syro-Chinese monument; see fi^in* 

gaf^ 
Swallows' nest soup, 107 

Tababistah; its resistance to the 

Arabs, Ixxxviii ; ocxlv 
Tabas, ocxiv 
Tabasbir, 93, 470 
Tablets carried at the Great Khan's 

court, 141 
Tabriz, 47, 48, 166 
TaccoHnOf an Armenian coin, 299 
Taghar, the word, 152 
Taghazza, 428 

Taghazghaz Turks, cvi, cxiv, dxzxviii 
Tabia {Bactriana), liv 
Taidu ; see Taydo 
Tauian, 1, coxli 
Taitsung, Emperor, 1, li, Ixiii 
Taiuna (or Thaguye), capital of 

China, xcvii 
Tsgah, xcvii, cxiii 
Takiuddin Abdarrahman, Nazir of 

Ma'bar, 219 
Talaochf Intalacca^ the word, 285, 

286 
Talas, oity and river, clxv, cc, ccxii-iii 
Talay, the great river {Kiang), 121 
Talhan, 559 ; bee next. 
Talikan, 540, 541, 559, 593 ; several 

cities of the name, ccliii, 541 
Talismanij the word, 235 
Tamalapatra {Malabathrum), cxlv-vi 
Tambopanni, Tamrapami,Taprobane, 

clxxxvi 
Tamgha, the word, 284 
Tamgh^i, the term, lii 
Tamlifatan, 273 
Tamul Annals of South India, 218, 

220 
Tamunga, the word, 284 
Tana {Azov), 231 ; convent at, 233; 

291, 292, 294; from, to Cathay, 

287 seqq, ; weights, etc., of, 296 
or Thana (Salsette, India), 

clxxxiv, ccxxx, 57, 227, 228, 230, 

350 
TancauUaggio, 300 
Taneharan (gold), clxx 
Tanga, Tanka, an ludian coin, ccxlvii 

seqq., 439 aeqq. 
Tangauli, what, 300 
Tanghetar, 5G2.3 
Tangi-uBadaMwhatif ccliii, 541, 561, 

562 



INDEX. 



XCV 



Tangnt, oxiv, cxviii, czxrii, ocxv; a 
Nestorian Archbishoprio, oczW, 179, 
269, 274 

Tanibek, Prince of Eipohak, 837 

TaDkiz for Chinghiz, 479 

Tanmaling, 90 

Tanore, 454 

Tanama (Natunaf), civ 

Taprobane, olvi, olzviii, clzxi; details, 
clxxvi ; tbe name, i5., clxxiz ; of 
the Catalan Map, ccxxv; see Ceylon 

Tarighurghan, cxit 

Tarikh Rashidi, 548, 570 

Tarim Gol, 544, 545 

Tarkhan^ the term, olxvi, 287, 486 

Tarmashirin, Khan of Chagatai, 185, 
187, 408. 475, 522 

Tarsia, Tarsio, cxcvi, 205 

TarUr city of Peking, 127 

— lamb, 144 

Tartars proper, their position, 177 

^—^ used for Chinese, 876 

Tartary, Great, 155 

cloth, 246 

Tashbalik, ol 

Tashi (Arabt),]T 

Tashkand, co, ccxx 

Tathsin (The Roman Empire), Iv, 
xcii 

Tathnng, 146.7 

Tattooed people, 86, 110 

Tatu, the Mongol City at Peking, 127 

Tangas, Taugaat, name under which 
Theophylaotas speaks of China, 
xlix; name probably intended, lii, 
eeq.y 448 

Tangha, cxiv 

Taaielaphus, clxxiv 

Tauris (Tabriz), 47 

Tavern cnstoms in China, 123 

Tawal, Moluccas, 520 

Tawallsi of Ibn Batata, 435, 447, 473, 
510; note on it, 520 $eqq. 

Tawau {Farghana), liv 

Taydo, Taido, Tatu, Daitu, the Mon- 
gol city at Peking, 127 

Tchao-Naiman-Sume Uotan, 134 

Tehetchetlagh, 563 - 

Tfin dynasty, xxxiv 

Tea, mention of, cvi ; first European, 
ccxvi 

Tears of Adam and Eve, 99. 860 

Tejpat, cxlv 

Tellicberi, 453 

Temujin {ChinghiZf q.v.), cxvii, 181 

Teudek-Sbahr, 146 

Tenduc of Polo, 140-7, 173, 180 

Tengi Badasdan, 561 ; see Tangi 

Tephrice, 299 

Terek Daban, cxlix, ccxi 



Terki, old city on tbe Caspian, 980 
Termedh, Tarmedb, cl, ccxxxy 
Thaban, clxxxv, cxoii 
Thafak, Thafan. an Indian Kingdom, 

clxxxiv-v 
ThagiaK the word. 427-8 
Thaifand, clxxxv 
Thaifu, a Chinese title, 263; and see 

ccxlvi 
Thaijue (or Taiona), xovii 
Thaiynanfu, xovii 
Thalamasin, Land of, 90 
Thalec, 571 
Thang Dynasty, 544 
Thebe, Monastery near Cansay, 119 
Theophanes Byzantinus, Extract from 

regarding Silkworms, clx 
Theophylaotus Simocatta, xlvii; his 

account of China afi Tangas, xlix 

teqq, 
Thian-Shan, 543. 547, 575 
Thiautekinn. 140.7 
Thin, the name, xxxvii, oxliv 
Thinds, xxxvii; not really mentioned 

by Eratosthenes, i6., cxliv, oliii 
Thoantac, 571 

Thomas of Tolentino, Friar and mar- 
tyr, his history, 61, 169, 184, 226 
Friar, sent Bishop to Cathay, 

171 
Mr. Edward, on Indian Coins, 

ccxlvii neqq.\ on Indian Weights, 

ccli; on Sovereigns of Bengal, oolii 
Three Churches, 801 
Threshold of the Khan's Palace not 

tu be touched, 132 
ThHin, Dynasty of, xxxiv; name ap- 
plied to China, Ivi 
Thsiniogcheu, 126 
Thsiuancheu or Cbinchen, 106; see 

Zayton, 
Thuwai, the word, 499 
Tibet, City of, Ixx 
Odoric'tf account of, 148 ; Visitors 

to, 149, 273, 461 
Tientsin, 126 
Tigers, 59 
Tigris Biver, 351 ; the Wolga called 

so, 234 
Tikodi, 453 

Tilinga, Kingdom of, 221 
Timbuktu, 428 
Timur Khan, grandson of Kublai, 197, 

265 

the Great, ecx, 525, 546, 554 

Tin of Malacca, 86 
Tindail, the word, 47 4 
Tiraboschi on Odoric, 19, 38 
Tirawari, the title, 420 
Tithe, 889 



XCVl 



INDEX. • 



TJflrimai Moantain in Jata, 301 
Tobba of Yemen ronqiiera China, cxc 
Toddy, elzzvi, 59 
Togontemur or Shanti, last Mongol 

Emperor of China, Ixxv, 184, 818, 

507 ; see Shunti. 
Tokharistan, Ixzxv-^i, ol 
Tokmeo, the word, 285 
Torrid zone, 839 
Tortoise, Annals of the, xzxt 
TortoitieB, Odoric's prodigious, 26, 96 
Toseanelli's accoant of Cathayan 

envoy to the Pope, oxxxix, letter to 

F. Martinez, oxovi 
Tostatus, JoanneH, on Paradise, 826 
Tower of Babel, 54 
Tozan, dty of Prester John, 147 
Traces of former Christianity found 

by Riooi in China, c 
: in 

Indo-Chinese oountrieH, oi 
Transmigration, &!« exhibited to Odorio 

and Marignolli, 119, 3H4 
Treasuries or Mints in Cathav, 245 
Trebizond, 44 ; empire of, 45 
Trees producing flour, 90, 91 

— ^ wine, 90 

—^ honey (i. e, sugar), 90 

of Paradise, 352 
worshipped, 367 



Tribute paid by Egyfkt to Ethiopia on 

account of the Nile, 349-50 
Trigault, or Trigautius, hia work on 

China, 586 
Tropea, 806 
TrucirUt coxlvi, 241 
Tseuthung (Zayton, q. ▼. or Chin- 

eheu), 108 
Tsiling (ZcMranj f), Ixxxvii 
Tugan, Hon of Knblai, 272 
TuKhlak Timur Khan, 524, 525, 545, 

547 

Shah of Dehli, 69, 405 

, Mahomed, see Af. 

Tuin, the word, 83, 241 

Tul, Pass of, 592, 593 

Tuii Wang Khan, 180 $eq, 

Tnlsi, Tulasi plants, 20, 59 

Tttffian, the word, 117, 152, 506 

TttpAo, the word, olxxiv 

Turbit, 805 

Turfan, cc, ccx ii, 546, 575, 576, 578 

Turkestan, Eastern, 543 teqq. 

Turk and Mongol tribes, Christianity 

among the, xcvti-viii 
Turkish Khans, intercoi^rse between 

the Kyzantine Court and the, xlv. 

clx teqq. 
Turlo, Tiuio. the Dniester, ccxxvi 
Tursi, Turnhi, 412 



Tnrtle, clxxri 

T&M, a Nestorian see in the 4th 

century, xo 
Tusks ascribed to Tibetan women, 150 
Tutan Dara, 594 
Tzinista of Coemas, xxxrii, xHx, 

clxviii, olxxvii-viii, ccxli 
Tzinisthan,xciii 



Ubashi, a class of Lama, 150 

Udhyana, Ixxii 

Udine, 1, 9, 10 teqq.^ 163 

Ugan, 578 

Ugors or Ogors, olxvi 

Ui^ni^i oHi, ccxlvi, 178 ; their written 
character, 205, 232 ; language, 236; 
a Turk race, t6., 275 ; see Ighur, 

Ukak, Ukek, city of, on the Wolga, 
233, 402 

Ulrich SayfuRstordt, a Bishop sent to 
Cathay, 170; dies on the road, 171 

Uman, a wild tribe on the Indo- 
Chinese frontier, 378 4 

Umbrellas, 381 

Umraz, Pass of, 593 

Unc Cham (Wang Khan), Prester 
John of Polo, 177-8,180 

Unicom described, clxxv 

Unnia, clxix 

Urdujs, Princess, 474, 520 

Urghai\j, Urganth, Organci, 232, 334, 
287-8, 321 

Ush, cxiix 

Utara Kuru, olii 

Uzbek, Usbeeh, viz., Mahomed Uzbek 
Khan of Kipohak, .238, 321, 837, 
401-8 

Uztin Hassan of Persia, cxxxix 

Uzzsno, Oiov. da, his work on mer- 
chandise, 283 



Valentine's mission to the Turks 
from Byzantium, clxi, 508 

Valentinelli, Sign. G., 36 

Vft'ley ..f Temble Things, 156 

Van, L«ke of. 193 

Vnnderpot's Journey to Tibet, 149 

Veddahs of Ceylon, czliv, 370, 383 

Veil in further India, 512 

Venia, the word, 82 

Veniukhof on Pamir, ocxxxi uqq,, 
539 

Venni, Biographer and Editor of Odo- 
ri.', 38 

Veraniin, ccxvii 

Vertical writing, coxlvi, 205-6 



INDEX. 



XCVll 



. Yetulns do MoDtanis, 154 
Villa Naova, 3, 16 
Virgin worshipped in China, 803 
Viterbo, Godfrey of, bis Pantheon, 

Vukhan ; see Wakhan, 
Vritaneit for Buddhist monasteries, 
250 



Waddakarb, 453 

Wadding's Annalea Minorum on Odo- 

rio,37 
Wadi-Mukhattib noticed by Cosmas, 

clzziii 
Wathek Billah sends to explore Wall 

of Gog and Magfg, 490 
Waihand, Ixxii 
WflkWak, Legend of, 79 
Wakhan and its real position, ccxxzUi 

seqq, 
Wakbsh, Wakhsjird, Wakhshab, ibid. 
Walker, Juhn, Mnps by, ccxzxi itqq, 

Col. G. T., Map by, t6. 

Wail of China, Great; see Great, 
Wallachia, the Greater, 371-2 
Wang Khan, 180 
Wangihi, the word, 263, 315 
Warangal {TiUnga), King of, 221 
Water, Population on the, in Cathay, 

243, 350 
Wealth of Idol Temples in Ma'bar,81 
Wei River, 126 
Wen Bifer, 126 
West, Ibn Batata's Praises of the, 

427 
Whale's Bones, 400 
White Horses presented to the Great 

Khan, 143 
Sea, and what is meant, 371-3; 

bat see ecxlvi 
— and Black Mountain, Parties in 

Turkestan, 547 
— ^ Huns, liv, olxxii, elxxz 
Widow-burning; see Suttee, 
Wild beasts in Ceylon do not hort 

foreigners, 100, 423 

Men, 383 

Ox (Yak), olxxiv 

Wilford on Goes, 563 

William of Solagna, scribe of Odorie'B 

narrative, 8, 21 M99., 159 
^— — of YiUanova appointed a 

bishop to Cathay, bat does not go, 

171 

of Prato, named Arohbisbop 



of Gambalec, 173 
Wine, trees (palms) that produce, 90, 

213,244,862 
Chinese ; see Riee-mne. 



Wine grown at St. Thomas's from 
seed of Paradise, 363 

of the Kafirs of Hindu Kush, 

554.5 

Winterthur, John of, 173 

Women, kingdom of, 324 

Wood's journey to the Oxus, and Sur- 
veys, clxxxviii, ccxxxi teqq,, 541, 
5i3, 558, 562, 593 teqq. 



Xanadu ; see Sandu 
Xavier, Jerome, 533, 552 
Xetaia {Kkitai), 533 



Yachi in Yunan, 269, 373 

Yak, olxxiv, ccxix 

Yam or post houses, coii, 137-8-9 

Yan, kingdom of, 127 

Yangoheu, ox, cxiii, cxciv, 123, 373 

Yanghi.Hisar, cxlix, 543, 563 

Yuli Pass, 692 

Yao, ancient Emperor of China, xxxv 
Yarkaud, position of, ooxxxii teqq.; 

562, 563 teqq, 
Yatak, the ordinances of Chinghiz, 

507 
Yefremo£f's travels, 540 
Yelui Tashi, 178 
Yellow River; see Hoceng Ho and 

Caramoran. 
Yenking, an old name of Peking, 127 
Yesnntimur, Mongol Emperor of 

China, his extravagance, 133 ; 

Odoric's interview with, 160 

Khan of Chagatai, 188-9 

Yezd, 51 

Yezdejird, last Sassanian King seeks 

aid from China, Ixxxv 
Ypotamuses, 379 
Yprfes, Long John of, 238 
Yu-stone {Jade), 564 ; see Jade 
Yueti, Yueiohi, liv ; see White Hunt 
Yu-hoang-bo, 125 
Yulduz, oc, 575 
Yunus Khan, 525 
an Alan chief, 315 



Zacabxa, Martin, 191, 195 

Zaohary, Archbishop of St Thaddeus, 

193 
Zamorin, 416, 419, 420 
Zaba, city of, cl 
Zab%j, dv 

Zaitan; see ZayUm 
Zaituniah, the word, 486 
Zampa, 95 ; see Champa 
Zaoy a kind of ship, 416- 17 

h 



\ 



xcvni 



INDEX. 



Zaranj in Sejistan, Ixxxvii 

Zardandan or Gold teeth, 200, 273; 
low TBlae of gold among them, 
442 

ZaryfL, Pass of, 503 

Zavolha Tartars, 144 

Zayton, Zaitun, Tsouthung, Thsiuan- 
oben or Ghinoben, czciii-iv, 73, 105, 
107, 108, 223. 225, 247, 250, 268, 
272, 273. 321, 355, 373, 308. 478, 
480 ieqq., 403, 510; Franciscan 
convents at, 73, 108, 224, 247, 355 ; 
bishops of. 183, 223, 248 ; Janks 
built at, 417 



Zedoary, 305 

Zegana, near Trebizond, 45 

Zemarohns, ambassador from Byzan > 

ttnm to the Khagan Dizabnlu<«. 

olzii $eqq. 
Zenkshi or Jinkshi, Khan of Chaga- 

tai, 188.0 
Zhafar, Dhafar, Dofar, 513 
Zihibt, the word, 303 
Zindan, the word. 358 
Zi^j, olxvii, olxz, 183, 324 
Zohak, mins of, 504 
Zonaras's account of iotrodnction or 

silkworms, oltz 



x' 



LOXDOX: T. RICIIAHD^, JJT, ORKAT QrKI'N «TREI:T.